


BULLETIN OF INFORMATION 



REGARDING 



CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL 
SCHOOLS. 



Issued by 
E. T. FAIRCHILD, 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
TOPEKA, KANSAS. 

1908. 



STATE PRINTING OFFICE, 
TOPEKA, 1908. 

2107 



BULLETIN OF INFORMATION 






REGARDING 



CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL 
SCHOOLS. 



Issued by 



E. T. FAIRCHILD, 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
TOPEKA, KANSAS. 

1908. 



STATE PRINTING OFFICE, 
TOPEKA, 1908. 



\ 



V 



w% 




CONSOLIDATION OP RURAL SCHOOLS. 



The most pressing educational problem to-day is the rural 
school. Our University, State Agricultural College and Nor- 
mal Schools have attained a degree of excellence and efficiency 
unparalleled in the history of our state. The denominational 
institutions, the high schools, and even the village schools, all 
report remarkable prosperity and increased activity. The 
great wave of prosperity that has made the past decade the 
most marvelous in the development of material resources has 
also found expression in the educational field. The state has 
recognized this and at the last session of the legislature nearly 
two million dollars were given to three state educational in- 
stitutions. Every true friend of education rejoices because 
of this liberality, and because of the many evidences of in- 
creasing advantages to the youth of our state. 

These institutions, including the high schools and village 
schools, have reached a condition where their future prosper- 
ity is practically assured. They have acquired a momentum 
that is bound to carry them forward surely and efficiently. 
The people of this state are fully aware of the value and worth 
of the work being done by this type of schools; it is a most 
pleasing situation and one of which the people of Kansas may 
well be proud. 

However, there is a phase of our school work that has not 
felt this forward impulse. I refer particularly to the rural 
school. It is the deliberate judgment of many of our best 
educators and closest observers that no such progress as we 
have above described is to be found in the common or country 
school. While all eyes have been turned to the high school, to 
the college, and to the university, it is feared that the welfare 
of the rural school has been sadly overlooked. 

While there are undoubtedly many excellent schools in the 
country to-day, and while many most capable and experienced 
teachers are working therein and doing their best for the 
children under their charge, yet the fact remains that a large 
per cent, of the teachers of this class are inexperienced, and 
many are most indifferently equipped. Much has been hoped, 
because of the marked increase of salaries in the rural schools 
in recent years, yet statistics do not indicate that with larger 
salaries have come better teachers. 

Again, the average age of teachers in rural schools is con- 
tinually lessening. In one county in eight years the average 
age has decreased from twenty-three to twenty years. While 
we have no recent statistics in the matter, it is probably true 

(3) 



4 Consolidation of Eural Schools. 

that the average age of teachers in the country schools is to- 
day even less than twenty years. Probably more than one- 
third of the teachers engaged in the schools of the country 
districts last fall were wholly inexperienced. In some counties 
fully fifty per cent, of the teachers are engaged in their first 
school work. 

These conditions, together with others that may be men- 
tioned, are deplorable. It is not enough to know that the 
graded schools and colleges, which afford a training to but a 
small per cent, of the more than 500,000 boys and girls of this 
state, are prosperous and growing stronger every day. What 
we need, and must have, before Kansas can hope to take her 
proper place in the educational scale, is a system of education 
and facilities that insure the very best character of foundation 
work. The thousands of boys and girls who are now, many of 
them, being offered very indifferent educational opportunities, 
must have the same chance that is granted to their city cousins. 

The type of district school that afforded a sufficient educa- 
tion to the children of a generation ago is no longer sufficient. 
Progress in every phase of home endeavor has been so rapid ; 
methods of business have been so radically changed ; competi- 
tion has become so keen, that the boy of to-day who is to be- 
come the business man of to-morrow must have a decidedly 
wider and broader and more liberal training than that of our 
fathers. 

In fifty years marvelous changes have taken place in the 
economics of rural life. The sickle, the flail, the crude ma- 
chinery of every kind, has given place to the modern reaper, 
the thrasher, the riding-plow, the devices of every sort for 
efficiency and comfort on the farm. 

The railroads have so modified relations and changed con- 
ditions that there is but little likeness left to the "good old 
times." 

It is a new country-life that faces us to-day. Conditions for 
living have improved at an almost marvelous rate. Now the 
farmer, instead of spending time hunting helpers and ar- 
ranging for interchange of work with his neighbors, uses the 
telephone to send to the near-by town or to call up the distant 
city for supplies needed at once. No longer is he content to 
receive his mail on Saturday, but now his letters, his daily 
city paper, with latest market quotations, are brought to his 
door every day. He is no longer satisfied with those a week 
old, or with market quotations that have lost their value. 

Everything relative to the farm and farm life has been im- 
proved. Agricultural experts are daily solving problems re- 
lated to the farm. Our agricultural colleges, through their 
farmers' institutes, their wheat and alfalfa and corn trains, 
their lectures on the science of dairying, their valuable sug- 
gestions as to soil fertility and the conservation of moisture, 
are malting the problem of farming not alone interesting, but 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 5 

vastly more profitable, and it is the boy and the girl of to-day 
who must be fitted by training and by opportunity to take up 
this ever-increasing problem. Everything relative to the farm 
and farm life has been improved in the past few years, and 
the up-to-date farmer takes advantage of all this because it 
pays to do so. 

Have our country schools kept pace with this marvelous 
march forward? All the benefits of which the farmer has 
taken advantage have tended to make better his financial 
standing and interest, his social standing and interest. The 
great question then is this : Would it not pay as an investment 
to bring the school up to the same high standard of efficiency 
that is being enjoyed by the modern up-to-date farm? Is it 
not absolutely necessary that the farmer's children be educated 
in harmony with these many improvements? Is it not neces- 
sary to his future standing, financially and socially, to keep up 
with modern advancement at school as well as at home? 

The proper education of the farm boys and girls cannot be 
neglected without finally bringing ruin upon the farming com- 
munities. If these advantages are not provided they will drift 
away early into other callings. If the right kind of schools are 
provided for the country boys and girls they will remain at 
home until they receive their general education, and then if 
they have gifts in other directions it will be time enough for 
them to seek special schools. 

The old-time country school, as many of us remember it, has 
gone, never to return. The large attendance, the male teacher 
in the winter, the pupils ranging in age from six to twenty-one 
are no longer in evidence. In its place is the small school, and 
too often the old-time "good teacher" has gone to the city. 
The ambitious scholar follows him, often taking the family 
with him. Says the Illinois School Report: "Thinking men 
have long since discovered that if this emigration to the cities 
for higher education is to continue, the country as well as its 
schools will be sapped of its vitality, and this thought has 
taken form in the expression that 'the country child is entitled 
to as good educational privileges as the city child, and this too 
without breaking up the family home,' and that everything 
short of this is unfair to the child and unprofitable to the com- 
munity." 

SIZE AND COST OF SCHOOLS. 

In a special bulletin published by the superintendent of pub- 
lic instruction of Michigan, in April, 1902, it appears that of 
6452 districts of the state 51 had two pupils, or fewer, and 
held no schools ; that 83 schools of the southern peninsula had 
five pupils or fewer; that the average attendance of these 
schools was three; that these 83 schools cost $13,636, or an 
average of $9.95 per pupil per month, or $99.50 per year of 
tsn months, though the number taught averaged fewer than 
six. It also appears that 1004 schools had fifteen or fewer; 



6 Consolidation op Rural Schools. 

that the average attendance of these schools was but eight; 
that the thousand schools cost $200,478.13, or an average of 
$199.67 each, and that the cost per pupil was $4.16 per month, 
or $41.60 per year of ten months. The same report says that 
the average cost per pupil in the city schools of Michigan is 
never over $19.40 per year of ten months, high schools in- 
cluded, the average cost being much less. 

From this at appears that over a thousand country schools 
in Michigan are maintained at a cost per pupil more than 
double that of the most expensive city schools. In addition to 
this fact the superintendent estimates that the country people 
of Michigan pay out annually over a million dollars for tuition 
and other expenses of their non-resident pupils from the coun- 
try seeking higher learning in the city schools. 

The figures from our own state are most startling ! Of the 
8603 districts there are 78 having an enrolment of five or less', 
474 between five and ten, 1049 between ten and fifteen, and 
1316 between fifteen and twenty — a total of 2917 with an en- 
rolment of twenty or less. More than one-third of all the 
districts have an enrolment of twenty or less. 

In the matter of average daily attendance there are 286 
schools having five pupils or less, 1343 having between five and 
ten pupils, 1889 between ten and fifteen, and 1808 between 
fifteen and twenty; or a total of 5326 schools in this state 
having a daily average attendance of twenty or less ; or 62 per 
cent, of the whole. In addition to all this there are 170 dis- 
tricts not maintaining schools, presumably because the schools 
are so small that they find it cheaper to send to other districts. 

In these small districts a cost of $50 to $100 per pupil per 
year based on the average daily attendance is not uncommon in 
almost any county in the state. The pupils of those schools 
could be educated at a much lower expense per capita in a con- 
solidated school that would be far more efficient than the 
small school. 

By consulting the county superintendent as to the cost per 
capita for maintaining the small schools, their wastefulness 
will be revealed and the importance of abandoning them will 
become more evident. 

The table on pages 7, 8, shows the number of small schools, 
by counties, and the average daily attendance therein. 

When we reflect that it costs as much to support a small 
school as one of thirty or more pupils, we catch some idea of 
the tremendous per capita cost of the Kansas rural school. 
Figures from the report of the superintendent of public in- 
struction of Indiana for 1900 show that the cost of elementary 
education in the country in that state is over forty-eight per 
cent, higher than the cost of education in the city, including 
the high-school course. 

A similar difference exists between the cost of maintaining 
the grades in the city schools and the cost of maintaining the 
rural school. In the one-teacher schools of Kansas the cost 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



SMALL SCHOOLS IN KANSAS. 

Statistical Table showing the number of districts reporting and the number of districts 
in each county having an average daily attendance of one to five, five to ten, ten to fifteen, and 
fifteen to twenty in 1906-07. 



Counties. 




Allen 

Anderson 

Atchison 

Barber 

Barton 

Bourbon 

Brown 

Butler 

Chase. 

Chautauqua . 

Cherokee 

Cheyenne. . . . 

Clark 

Clay 

Cloud 

Coffey 

Comanche. . . . 

Cowley 

Crawford 
Decatur 

Dickinson. . . . 
Doniphan 

Douglas 

Edwards 

Elk 

Ellis 

Ellsworth 

Finney 

Ford 

Franklin... . 

Geary 

Gove 

Graham 

Grant 

Gray 

Greeley 

Greenwood. . . 
Hamilton 

Harper 

Harvey 

Haskell 

Hodgeman . . . 

Jackson 

Jefferson 

Jewell 

Johnson 

Kearny 

Kingman 

Kiowa 

Labette 

Lane 

Leavenworth 

Lincoln 

Linn 

Logan 

Ly on 

Marion 

Marshall 

McPherson . . 

Meade 



78 
75 
101 

110 
83 

159 
59 
89 

101 
56 
22 
101 
106 

101 
33 
140 
123 
99 

119 
68 
85 
48 
78 

55 
67 
35 
49 
93 

40 
44 
84 
10 
33 

12 
116 
17 
63 
72 

15 
20 
89 
96 
158 

95 
10 
92 
42 
107 

44 
77 
87 
99 
41 

113 
117 
140 
120 
38 



o 


*d 


H 


*d 


a 

ft) 


< 


ft 3 


?? 


8 


5 


3 5 


8§ 


< 




: » 


?$ 




& 








3 


11 


22 


2 


16 


15 


25 




9 


10 


19 


10 


22 


12 


13 


6 


19 


13 


14 




8 


26 


28 




1 


10 


9 


3 


29 


52 


32 


5 


14 


13 


11 


4 


11 


25 


18 




4 


5 


25 


9 


26 


19 


1 


3 


7 


5 






12 


27 


24 




7 


25 


25 


1 


12 


20 


18 


6 


11 


5 




4 


16 


34 


40 


2 


12 


17 


28 


2 


17 


32 


28 


2 


6 


11 


33 


2 


5 


11 


12 




3 


9 


15 


2 


12 


16 


11 


2 


17 


19 


11 


14 


9 


14 


8 


4 


17 


19 


14 


1 


8 


7 


3 




20 


9 


8 


1 


8 


15 


19 


1 


8 


10 


7 


4 


14 


13 


5 


5 


17 


28 


20 




4 


2 


2 


2 


15 


6 


6 


2 




5 


1 


9 


12 


24 


35 


7 


4 


2 


2 


2 


16 


12 


17 


2 


5 


11 


21 




8 


2 


1 


4 


21 


.11 


4 




4 


18 


18 




5 


14 


23 


1 


30 


36 


47 


1 


11 


20 


25 


1 


1 


1 


1 




15 


21 


21 


4 


9 


11 


10 




9 


15 


28 


4 


13 


14 


6 




3 


6 


10 




7 


13 


27 




9 


19 


19 


5 


10 


13 


6 




12 


26 


29 




13 


20 


24 


4 


18 


30 


44 


2 


12 


22 


30 




10 


6 


8 



to •< 



36 
58 
38 
57 
52 

62 
20 
116 
43 
58 

34 
55 
15 
63 
57 

51 
22 
94 
59 
79 

52 
30 
27 
41 
49 

45 
54 
19 
37 
43 

26 

36 

70 

8 

29 



15 
47 
39 

11 
40 
40 
42 
114 

57 
4 
57 
34 
52 

37 
19 
47 
47 
34 

67 
57 
96 
66 
24 



Consolidation op Rural Schools. 



SMALL SCHOOLS IN KANSAS-Concluded. 



Counties. 



a 

•d 53' 

O r+ 



•=1 

3sr 



Miami 

Mitchell 

Montgomery. 

Morris 

Morton 



Nemaha , 
Neosho . . 

Ness 

Norton. . , 



Osborne 

Ottawa 

Pawnee 

Phillips 

Pottawatomie. 



Pratt .... 
Rawlins. . 

Reno 

Republic. 
Rice 



Riley. . . 
Rooks . . 
Rush. . . 
Russell. 
Saline.. 



Scott 

Sedgwick . 
Seward . . . 
Shawnee. . 
Sheridan. . 



Sherman . 
Smith 
Stafford. . 
Stanton . . 
Stevens . . 



Sumner 

Thomas 

Trego 

Wabaunsee . 
Wallace 



Washington 

Wichita 

Wilson 

Woodson. . . . 
Wyandotte. . 



Totals. 



102 
107 
109 

85 



122 
97 
71 
115 
105 

113 
93 
63 
126 
120 

73 
77 
144 
121 
91 

85 
102 
71 
65 
86 

29 

157 

9 

96 

67 

57 
137 
86 
11 
14 

171 
73 



27 

144 
30 
99 
69 
40 



2 


11 


3 


22 




8 


1 


13 


2 


17 




4 


1 


20 


6 


21 


3 


8 


4 


17 




19 



10 



14 



13 

17 
18 
14 
16 

13 
31 
4 
5 

27 

30 
13 
9 
2 
5 

38 
25 
16 
15 
9 

14 
9 
6 

13 

1 



1,343 



21 
38 
15 
20 
1 

33 

8 

18 
41 
IS 

40 
26 
27 
33 
31 

17 
16 
30 
21 
25 

18 

41 
21 



9 

44 
3 

15 
14 

7 

37 

22 

1 

5 

60 

17 

13 

27 

6 

35 

11 

18 

20 

2 



24 
18 
27 
26 
2 

28 
28 
20 
18 
21 

25 

28 

7 

35 

24 

14 
5 
30 
35 
16 

19 
22 
11 
12 
21 

2 
30 

1 
19 
14 

3 

42 

21 

2 

2 

35 
5 

7 
15 



58 

81 
50 
60 
3 

80 
40 
59 
86 
50 

86 
73 
54 

85 



43 

71 
78 
67 
64 

52 
83 
51 
38 
56 

24 

115 

8 

39 

55 

54 
92 
55 
7 
12 

140 
59 
40 
57 
23 

87 
28 
53 
48 

7 



5,326 



per pupil per month, based on the average daily attendance, is 
$3.47. 

By referring to the cost of maintaining the grades in repre- 
sentative city schools and maintaining the rural schools, shown 
in the table below, the great difference in the cost of main- 
tenance is readily observed. This great difference exists not- 
withstanding the fact that the higher wages are paid for 
teachers in the graded schools. 

We have collected statistics from a few counties in order that 
the illustrations may be as concrete as possible. We find that 
in the city of Hutchinson, Reno county, the average per capita 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



9 



cost per month on the enrolment in the high school is $1 76 
Based on the average daily attendance we find it to be $2.35. 
District No. 51 of the same county, with thirty pupils enrolled 
shows a per capita cost of $1.80, and a per capita cost on the 
average attendance of $2.40. District No. 77 of the same 
county has thirteen pupils enrolled; the average cost on the 
enrolment is $4.55, the average cost on attendance $5.45. 

Thus we have the extremes on enrolment, in Hutchinson 
$1.76; in the small schools, same county, $4.55. On average 
daily attendance, Hutchinson $2.35, small school, $5.45. 

The table on page 10 tells its own story. 

These small schools, then, of which we have 5326, cost 
greatly more per capita than our best and most highly or- 
ganized city schools, including the high schools. 

AVERAGE ENROLMENT AND AVERAGE ATTENDANCE OF RURAL 
SCHOOLS FOR THE WHOLE STATE. 

Another view of the subject, and one which will be of inter- 
est to all concerned, is found in the table (p. 11), wherein 
by counties is given the number of rural one-teacher schools, 
and the average enrolment and average daily attendance 
therein by counties. From this it will be seen that the average 
enrolment of purely rural schools for the state is 24.7; that 
the average daily attendance for the state in these schools is 17. 

It is further discovered from this table that there are but 
twelve counties in which the average daily attendance is over 
20 ; forty-three counties in which the average daily attendance 
is from 16 to 20 ; that there are thirty-six counties having an 
average daily attendance of but from 11 to 15; and fourteen 
counties with an average daily attendance of from 7 to 10. On 
the other hand, the average daily attendance in cities of the 
first and second class is 38. 

REDUCE TEACHING FORCE ONE-HALF. 

If through consolidation or . otherwise these rural schools 
could be brought to have an average attendance of say thirty- 
five pupils, the number of teachers required therein would be 
one-half the number now employed. 

As a further illustration, the following table shows the com- 
parative cost per capita per month of maintaining the rural 
schools of the counties given with the cost of maintaining the 
grades in the principal cities of said counties : 

COST IN GRADES ON AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE. 



Hutchinson $2 40 

Reno county 3 64 

Clay Center 1 15 

Clay county 2 90 

Wellington 2 06 

Sumner county 4 00 

McPherson 2 00 

McPherson county 2 88 

Oskaloosa 2 55 

-Jefferson county 2 75 



Garden City $1 39 

Finney county 7 10 

Lawrence 1 42 

Douglas county 2 70 

El Dorado 1 91 

Butler county 4 15 

Iola 2 12 

Allen county 2 80 



10 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



County. 


Town and district. 


Enrol- 
ment. 


Average 
attend- 
ance. 


Per capita cos 
month. 

On enrolment. 


t per 

On av- 
erage 

attend- 
ance. 






2,396 
30 


1,969 

21 
11 










H. S., $1 76 
1 80 
4 55 


$2 35 
2 40 




District No. 77 


13 


5 45 






7,144 

40 
10 


5,784 

27 
9 


Grades, $2 57 
H. S., 4 61 

3 10 

4 60 


$2 97 




District No. 33 

District No. 94 


5 04 

4 60- 

5 10- 


Clay 




757 

25 
10 


580 

22 

8 


Grades, $0 64 
H. S 


$1 15 




District No. 30 

District No. 85 






1 75 
4 00 


2 oa 

5 00 






10,636 

43 
16 


8,130 

28 
13 


Grades, $1 85 

H. S., 2 93 

1 65 

3 55 


$2 39 




District No. 5 

District No. 45 


3 78 
2 85 

4 30 






929 

22 
10 


792 

14 

7 


Grades, $1 69 
H.S 


$2 06 




District No. 34 
District No. Ill 






2 50 

5 40 


3 85 
7 75 






777 

26 
15 


620 

17 
10 


Grades, $1 50 
H.S 


$2 00 




District No. 15 

District No. 88...... 






1 50 
3 95 


2 80 
5 90 




487 
21 
10 


330 

12 

8 


$2 40 
2 00 
4 60 


$3 50 




District No. 25 

District No. 44 


2 45 
5 70 






266 
28 
15 


212 
23 
12 


$2 00 
2 35 
2 75 


$2 55 




District No. 72 


2 85 

3 40 






918 

24 
10 


488 

16 

7 


Grades, $1 19 

H. S., 2 52 

1 75 

5 10 


$1 39 




District No. 8 

District No. 16 


3 75 
2 55 
7 30- 






2,438 

26 
13 


1,994 

21 
10 


Grades, $1 15 

H. S., 1 56 

2 20 

5 15 


$1 42 




District No. 32 

District No. 79 


1 87 

2 70' 
6 65 


Butler 


El Dorado 


876 

22 
10 


639 

19 

7 


Grades, $1 37 

H. S., 2 09 

1 65 

4 30 


$1 91 




District No. 7 
District No. 124 


2 56 
2 00. 
6 10 






1,901 
30 


1,460 
16 


Grades, $1 45 

H. S.. 2 15 

1 40 


$1 90 




District No. 73 


2 59 
2 60 


Allen 




2,710 

35 
16 


1,997 

25 
9 


Grades, $1 55 
H. S., 3 67 

1 70 

2 65 


$2 12 




District No. 27 
District No. 77 


4 58. 
2 40. 
4 65. 



But the financial question, however important, is not the 
most important consideration. The fatal weakness in these 
schools lies in their size. It is impossible that schools so small 
as many of these are should do the best work. With but a 
handful of pupils no teacher can secure the best results. The 
pupils themselves miss the incentive and inspiration that cornea 
of numbers. 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



11 



NUMBER OF ONE-TEACHER SCHOOLS, BY COUNTIES, AND AVERAGE ENROL- 
MENT AND ATTENDANCE THEREIN. 



Counties. 



Allen 

Anderson. . . . 

Atchison 

Barber 

Barton 

Bourbon 

Brown 

Butler 

Chase 

Chautauqua . 

Cherokee 

Cheyenne 

Clark 

Clay 

Cloud 

Coffey 

Comanche . . . 

Cowley 

Crawford 

Decatur 

Dickinson.. . . 
Doniphan.. . . 

Douglas 

Edwards 

Elk 

Ellis 

Ellsworth 

Finney 

Ford 

Franklin 

Geary 

Gove 

Graham 

Grant 

Gray. . t 

Greeley 

Greenwood . . 

Hamilton 

Harper 

Harvey 

Haskell 

Hodgeman. . . 

Jackson 

Jefferson 

Jewell 

Johnson 

Kearny 

Kingman 

Kiowa 

Labette 

Lane 

Leavenworth 

Lincoln 

Linn 





Aver- 


Aver- 


No. of 
schools. 


age 

enrol- 
ment. 


age 
daily 
attend- 
ance. 

21.1 


69 


33.2 


81 


25.0 


16.5 ( 


73 


31.3 


20.5 : 


68 


18.9 


12.8 


97 


20.1 


14.4 


100 


29.3 


18.8 


72 


33.8 


26.5 


147 


23.9 


15.7 


50 


20.7 


13.7 


82 


23.8 


16.3 | 


88 


36.3 


23.6 


54 


15.8 


9.4 


19 


14.0 


8.9 


95 


30.0 


18.5 


100 


26.6 


17.1 


96 


29.1 


20.4 


30 


17.1 


10.1 


135 


24.5 


16.8 


102 


33.5 


18.7 


94 


23.4 


15.1 


107 


25.0 


18.3 


57 


26.0 


22.6 


77 


30.6 


22.7 


45 


19.9 


13.3 


71 


23.9 


15 9 


50 


19.7 


11.9 


60 


18.6 


13.5 


34 


16.5 


7.7 


53 


17.3 


11.3 


83 


30.1 


22.1 


39 


24.0 


16.6 


44 


20.6 


14.2 


81 


21.4 


14.5 


8 


17.8 


12.2 


35 


15.2 


10.9 


14 


20.0 


11.1 


106 


25.2 


16.9 


16 


12.4 


7.7 


73 


24.6 


17.2 


67 


26.0 


20.2 


16 


17.5 


11.2 


43 


15.5 


10.8 


82 


34.5 


21.1 


86 


30.5 


21.4 


150 


23.9 


16.8 


82 


26.5 


18.4 


14 


17.4 


13.1 


85 


24.9 


18.6 


41 


19.9 


12.5 


94 


29.5 


20.4 


42 


15.8 


12.2 


68 


36.5 


25.0 


82 


23.4 


17.8 


92 


30.2 


20.3 



Counties. 



Logan 

Lyon 

Marion 

Marshall. . . 
McPherson 



Meade 

Miami 

Mitchell 

Montgomery. 
Morris 



Morton . . 
Nemaha 
Neosho . 
Ness. 
Norton . . 



Osage. . . 
Osborne 
Ottawa . 
Pawnee. 
Phillips. 



Pottawatomie 

Pratt 

Rawlins 

Reno 

Republic 



Rice . . . 
Riley . . 
Rooks. . 
Rush. . . 
Russell 



Saline 

Scott 

Sedgwick. 
Seward . . . 
Shawnee. . 



Sheridan. 
Sherman. 
Smith. . . . 
Stafford . 



Stanton. 
Stevens. 
Sumner. 
Thomas . 



Trego 

Wabaunsee . 

Wallace 

Washington 



Wichita. . . . 

Wilson 

Woodson.. . 
Wyandotte. 



Total 7,756 

Average for state. 



No. of 
schools. 



39 
103 

99 
126 
111 

34 

95 

102 

101 

79 

6 
113 
89 
63 
110 

93 
109 
89 
61 
115 

109 
65 
76 
128 
113 

76 
80 
94 
65 
54 

80 

30 

147 

8 

80 

65 
55 
131 
81 

11 

13 

156 

69 

48 
79 
25 
134 

28 
92 
65 
22 



Aver- 
age 
enrol- 
ment. 



17.2 
27.7 
29.2 
25.3 
26.1 

18.6 
28.0 
21.0 
29 7 
25.0 

24.8 
26.1 
32.7 
19.8 
21.9 

32.0 
20.8 
21.3 
17.6 
26.8 

23.8 
26.5 
17.3 
26.5 
27.4 

20.8 
24.3 
18.7 
19.3 
21.3 

23.0 
18.5 
22.4 
14.2 
29.6 

18.1 
13.1 
24.3 
27.3 

15.6 

18.6 
19.0 
19.1 

18.7 
23.8 
12.7 
26.3 

14.6 
29.3 
25.3 
37.0 



Aver- 
age 
daily 
attend- 
ance. 



11.4 
20.2 
21.5 
17.1 
19.1 

16.0 
21.5 
15.5 
20.9 
17.2 

19.3 
16.7 
21.0 
13.2 
15.0 

19.8 
15.1 
15.6 
12.5 
17.1 

15.1 
18.0 
9.6 
18.6 
18.7 

13.8 
17.3 
16.6 
15.4 
13.3 

17.0 
11.2 
15.3 
10.1 
20.4 

10.7 

8.5 

11.1 

17.3 

13.0 
12.7 
13.8 
10.6 

12.4 

16.7 

9.2 

18.7 

9.8 
19.1 
17.2 
20.6 



As soon as the boy and girl are free from the operation of 
the compulsory-attendance law, they too often leave the school 
simply because they find so little to attract. In these small 
schools it frequently happens that there is not a single scholar 
above the age of twelve or thirteen. Or, if the pupil holds out 



12 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

until the age limit, he probably will find but one or two in his 
grade. 

To undertake to study under such conditions with enthusi- 
asm or profit is most discouraging. As a result the pupil goes 
more and more reluctantly to school. His parents finally give 
up the unequal struggle, or, at a time when the child most 
needs the restraints and friendly service of the home, sends 
him to the town. It is not the young child that suffers so much 
because of the small school; it is the boy or girl of fourteen 
and over, who, because of the depressing surroundings, because 
of the lack of incentive, drops out of school. 

Reports, both in this and other states, show that the chances 
of these smaller schools getting a good teacher are very small 
indeed. In Iowa we find that for 1901 more than one-third of 
all the teachers were inexperienced. This, as we have stated, 
is true in this state. The larger and more attractive schools 
naturally secure the most experienced teachers, as a rule. It 
is further true that when a teacher once demonstrates her 
ability, she is called to the village or city school, so that the 
great army of inexperienced teachers usually find their train- 
ing in the country. These are but a part of the weaknesses 
that inhere in our present rural-school system. 

It is held by all students of this problem that the only rem- 
edy is the consolidating or uniting of two or three or more 
small or weak schools into one. 

Consolidation, in its fullest sense, means the disorganization 
of two, three or more school districts and uniting them into one 
large school district, organizing in it a large central school, 
and, if necessary, transporting the pupils thereto. In its full- 
est sense, it means the disorganization of the small schools of 
a territory of about the size of a township and the formation 
of one central school. 

Consolidation may be effected by the disorganization of the 
smaller school districts and the transportation of their pupils 
to strong central schools already existing. 

Another type of consolidation is where the school district 
transports its pupils to another school and pays their tuition. 

Consolidation in its complete form implies the transporta- 
tion of the pupils at the expense of the district in comfortable 
covered wagons, properly lighted and heated, large enough to 
hold from sixteen to twenty-four pupils and driven by a driver 
under bond and contract as to regularity, habits and protection 
and control over the children. 

It also implies some changes in the buildings. The change 
is sometimes effected by moving one or more of the best school 
imildings of the district to the location of another school build- 
ing, thus providing two, three or more schoolrooms at one 
place. 

At first thought consolidation would seem expensive. Ex- 
perience, however, demonstrates that this is not true to any 
considerable degree. By combining small schools, fewer teach- 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



13 



ers are needed than under the separate system, thus saving a 
certain outlay. 

While several buildings are now necessarily maintained, 
under the new plan but one needs to be provided and cared for. 

IDEA NOT A NEW ONE. 

That consolidation is not a new movement is apparent from 
the fact that the first school of this type was established in 
1874. Since then the idea has grown until consolidated schools, 
to a greater or less extent, have been established in more than 
thirty states of the Union. Ohio has 157 centralized or con- 
solidated schools. Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, 
South Dakota and Colorado are all rapidly abandoning weak 
schools and establishing in place thereof two-, three- or four- 
teacher schools. 

Consolidation was first undertaken in 1874, at Quincy, 
Mass., under the law of 1865. In 1898 consolidation had been 
undertaken in sixty-five per cent, of the towns (townships) of 
that state, and the amount of consolidation has been doubled 
since that date. 

In the report of the board of education for Massachusetts 
for the year 1904-'05 we discover that the process of consoli- 
dation has gone on steadily from year to year, as shown by the 
steady increase of expenditures for conveyance : 



Year. 


Amount 
expended. 


Year. 


Amount 
expended. 


1888 


$22,118 38 
24,145 12 
30.648 68 
38,726 07 
50,590 41 
63,617 68 
76,608 29 
91.136 11 

105,317 13 


1897 


$123,032 41 


1889 


1898 


127,409 22 


1890 

1891 


1899 

1900 


141,753 84 
151,773 47 


1892 


1901 


165,596 91 


1893 


1902 


178,297 64 


1894 


1903 

1904 

1905 


194,967 35 


1895 

1896 


213,220 93 
236,415 40 



In Maine 653 districts were disorganized from 1890 to 1905. 
The number of districts disorganized in that time is one-fourth 
of the number of districts still remaining in existence in that 
state. 

In Virginia the number of consolidated schools increased 
from 130 in 1906 to 162 in 1907. 

In North Carolina, in the two years ending in 1903, 1200 
small districts were consolidated. 

Consolidation began in Ohio in 1892. The number of con- 
solidated schools increased from 92 in 1906 to 157 in 1907, 
making an increase of 65 in one year. There are 35 consoli- 
dated schools in two counties of that state, and in Ashtabula 
county, where consolidation began, there are 21 consolidated 
schools. Consolidation grows most by spreading from where 
it is started. 

From the report of State Supt. Fassett Cotton, of Indiana, 
the number of consolidated schools increased from 280 to 418 



14 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 




CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL, MILTON, SUMNER COUNTY. 
Showing three buildings brought together for use after consolidation. 



in the two years ending in 1907. The number of schools 
abandoned in that time increased from 679 to 1314. For con- 
solidation nine counties in 1906 had each abandoned 25 schools 
or more, and five counties had each abandoned 40 schools or 
more. The number of pupils transported increased from 5356 
to 16,034, and in 1906 17,000 children of the rural districts of 
that state were attending the graded schools of towns and 
cities. 

In response to a letter of inquiry addressed to the state 
superintendent of Indiana as to the present standing of con- 
solidation in that state, I quote the following reply : 

Indianapolis, Ind., September 26, 1007. 
Supt. E. T. Fairchild, Topeka, Kan.: 

My Dear Sir — There is a strong movement in Indiana toward consoli- 
dation. For a number of years there has been a law enabling township 
trustees to abandon schools with an average daily attendance of twelve 
or fewer. The last legislature strengthened that law by compelling town- 
ship trustees to abandon all schools that have an average dn.ily at- 
tendance of twelve or fewer and consolidate such schools. It also pro- 
vided that the township trustees may abandon all schools that have an 
average daily attendance of fifteen or fewer. This new law is hasten- 
ing consolidation. I am not in a position to present to you much more 
information than is contained in the last report of this department, 
further than to say that this legislation is closing about a thousand of 
our district schools this year. Yours sincerely, 

F. A. Cotton, State Superintendent Public Instruction. 

In 1906 Iowa disorganized 76 schools in fourteen counties 
to form 30 consolidated schools. Seven of the consolidated 
schools are in one county. Consolidation in general has grown 
mainly in communities adjacent to consolidated districts. 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 15 

Thus it is seen that consolidation is no longer an experiment. 
It is progressing steadily in many of the states and rapidly in 
a few. 

KANSAS. 

The first school of this type was established in this state in 
1898, although the preparatory steps were taken in 1896, a 
special law provided in 1897, and the schools of Green Garden 
township, Ellsworth county consolidated in 1898. 

Since then the movement has developed in this state until, in 
1907, some twenty counties have consolidated schools, number- 
ing in all 27 schools. In addition to that number 130 school 
districts discontinued their schools and transported their pu- 
pils to other districts. 

While those schools that were discontinued do not come un- 
der the law for consolidation, the effect has been the same. It 
is hoped that the plan of discontinuing the smaller schools and 
sending the pupils to other schools will be adopted quite 
largely. The natural result would be the disorganization of 
the small districts and consolidation to form strong schools. 

Quite a number of large, strong, consolidated districts are 
now in process of formation. However, not enough schools 
of this type have been established in the state to offer the 
proper object-lesson. While the consolidation of two districts 
is an improvement, the full result and benefits are not reached 
short of the formation of large consolidated schools of three or 
more teachers. 

Although the work is being undertaken very actively in 
many counties of the state, the most important results so far 
have been secured in Sedgwick county. Superintendent Col- 
ville, of that county, reports that the proposition of consolida- 
tion has carried in five school districts ; that five other districts 
have carried the proposition at Rose Hill to form a joint con- 
solidated district. The superintendent also reports that such 
districts are in process of formation at Derby, Colwich and 
Maize, and that almost every neighborhood in the county has 
asked for consolidation meetings. 

Among the more prominent consolidated schools in the state 
are those at Lorraine, in Ellsworth county; Burns, in Marion 
county; Union No. 2, Union No. 4 and Chase consolidated 
school, in Rice county; Portis, in Osborne county; Haven, in 
Reno county; Milton, in Sumner county; Pearl and Union 
No. 2, in Dickinson county; and Atlanta, in Cowley county. 

Other consolidated schools in the state are districts Nos. 1A 
and 2A, in Anderson county ; Hymer, in Chase county ; No. 87, 
in Douglas county; No. 99, in Franklin county; Corwin, in 
Harper county ; Haviland, in Kiowa county ; Winona and Rus- 
sell Springs, in Logan county; Bancroft, in Nemaha county; 
Agra, in Phillips county; Buhler, in Reno county; Narka, in 
Republic county; Union No. 1 and Union No. 2, in Rooks 
county ; and Viola, in Sedgwick county. 



16 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

The following reports made at the Superintendents' Con- 
ference, held in Topeka in August last, provide additional and 
detailed information as to certain of the consolidated districts. 

Report of Supt. W. S. Higgs, on consolidation in Rice county : 

There are three consolidated schools in Rice county, designated as 
Union 2, Union 3, and Union 4. 

Unions 3 and 4 were the first to organize, June 19, 1903. Union 3 
(Chase) already had a school building of three rooms, which accommo- 
dated all the pupils of that district, consolidation adding only about 
fifteen pupils to that school. Chase is a town of about 225 people. 
Union 3 contemplates building a new school building in the near future. 

Union 4 is an entirely rural district. This district at first moved two 
of thei? old schoolhouses together and fixed them up and used them 
temporarily, until last fall, when the people built a fine, up-to-date 
building, costing for everything about $5000. 

Union 2 was organized May 24, 1905. Only three districts were dis- 
organized, and all large schools. A fine, new school building was built, 
also barns and sheds for horses and wagons, costing when completed 
$4500. 

The three consolidated schools were composed of ten districts, which 
were disorganized in 1903 and 1905, respectively. The year before con- 
solidation the census enrolment for the ten districts was 301; enrolment 
in school, 258; average daily attendance, 187; cost of maintaining the 
schools, $4149; cost per capita, $22.20. 

AFTER CONSOLIDATION. 

The annual reports of the three consolidated schools for the year end- 
ing June 30, 1907, are as follows: Census enrolment, 297; enrolled in 
school, 272; average attendance, 217; cost of maintaining schools, $5283, 
cost per capita, $24.34. 

Before consolidation nine teachers were employed (district 18 had but 
five pupils and sent to Chase for several years) and received an average 
salary of $41. Seven teachers now do the work and receive an average 
salary of $54.65. 

The cost of transportation last year was, approximately, $1.50 per 
month per pupil. The pupils are conveyed in enclosed wagons, which are 
furnished with sheet-iron stoves, and it is no trouble to keep the children 
comfortable. In a few instances the board have arranged with isolated 
families to furnish their own conveyance. 

A COMPARISON OF THE WORK DONE. 

Last year there were 143 graduates from the common schools in Rice 
county. Of this number the graded schools of the county, of which there 
were eight, furnished 68, leaving 75 for the district schools and the three 
consolidated schools. Of the district schools, 45 of the number turned 
out 42 graduates, and the three consolidated schools 33. 

Of the union schools 58 were on examination, and 33 passed with a 
general average of 85.7 per cent. Of the district schools 90 were on 
examination, and 42 passed with a general average of 83.9 per cent. 

The per cent, of attendance, etc., of the ten districts consolidated for 
the year preceding consolidation and the year following: 

Before consolidation : Per cent, of census enrolled, 85 ; per cent, of en- 
rolment attending, 72; per cent, of census attending, 62. 

After consolidation: Per cent, of census enrolled, 91; per cent, of en- 
rolment attending, 80; per cent, of census attending, 73. 

Area of districts: Union 2, twenty-three square miles; Union 3, 
twenty square miles ; Union 4, twenty-eight square miles. 

The routes vary in length from five to nine miles, but few of the pupils 
ride over five miles. 

Pupils have their regular seats in the wagons and are directly in 
charge of the driver, who is responsible to the principal and board for 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 17 

th^co^duct*' and s ° far as Z can learn but very little trouble arises about 

There is practically no tardiness made by pupils who are transported. 

SUCCESS OF CONSOLIDATION. 

Consolidation of rural schools is a success, because of the better re- 
sults secured. The attendance is greatly increased, and I think upon 
investigation the same is true in other places. 

It does away with tardiness, and so far as I know not one of the 
wagons has ever been late. The increased number of pupils in the 
classes increases the interest and better work is done. Because of fewer 
classes longer time is secured for recitations and the result is more 
thorough work. Children go to school with comfort in bad weather 
Habits of regularity and punctuality are inculcated— no small part of a 
proper education. The opportunity of the bully to impose upon smaller 
children on the way to and from school is taken away. As a rule the best 
teachers are m the graded schools; besides, it makes close and better 
supervision possible. 

I have talked with some who opposed consolidation, and after havine 
given it a trial they are loud in their praise of the results obtained, and 
not one is willing to go back to the old way. I am planning to have a 
meeting of school-district officers some time this fall, when one of the 
subjects to be discussed will be "consolidation." I shall endeavor to have 
some one who lives in a consolidated district, and who is able to handle 
the subject thoroughly, to talk on the transportation phase of the sub- 
Report of Supt. P. D. Scott, of Osborne county, on "Con- 
solidation" : 

™ Ir L 0sborne it; means the consolidation or formation of but one district 
We have had better success in forming consolidated districts with ad- 
joining counties than in our own. In the formation of the consolidated 
district of which I shall speak Smith county is a factor. We are now 
forming another one in which Russell county will be a factor. I believe 
consolidation is the solution of a great many questions that we have been 
considering since we met here yesterday. I am glad that Mr. Fairchild 
gave this an important place upon the program, because I think it is, of 
all things we have discussed, the most important. 

In June, 1905, district No. 19 of Smith county, embracing six sections, 
districts Nos. 19 and 27, Osborne county, embracing altogether nine sec- 
tions, voted to form a consolidated district, so that the district now com- 
prises fifteen sections. The district now has a valuation of $100,000 
The people were very enthusiastic over the consolidation. It seemed to 
stir up enthusiasm in school matters wonderfully. 

After consolidation the people concluded they needed a new school- 
house, and at an expense of $6000 erected a nice four-room building. 
Consolidation has certainly brought about a great interest in school mat- 
ters in this portion of the county. At first there was some opposition 
from those who lived some distance from the building. Now that they 
see the advantages there is no longer further criticism. The enrolment 
last year was 157. You know what that means in the way of interest, 
both in the grades and in the high-school work. They are also establish- 
ing a high-school course of three years — one teacher and one assistant. 

Another district in our county, though not consolidated, but containing 
eighteen sections, transports its children. The longest distance traveled 
was three and three-fourths miles. The carrier makes a certain point 
designated at a certain hour, and all pupils to be transported meet at 
that point, and they are returned to the same point in the evening. The 
eost per month in this case was $22.50. A distinct advantage that grew 
out of this transportation was the greater regularity in attendance. 

In district No. 19, a portion of the consolidated district first men- 
tioned, the pupils are not hauled by the district. The longest distance 



18 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

traveled is four and three-fourths miles. The board has built a pretty 
fair barn on the school-grounds, providing ample room for horses, and 
those who live in distant parts of the district drive their own rigs, put 
their horses up in the barn, and return home in the evening. 

From everything that I have been able to observe in my own county I 
heartily indorse the plan of consolidation. I expect to hold this winter as 
many township meetings throughout the county as I can. At these times, 
I shall do my best to talk consolidation. 

Supt. James A. Ray, Marion county, on the topic, "How Con- 
solidation is Viewed in Marion County, and What it Has Done 
for the Districts Concerned," says : 

Our consolidated school is located at Burns, a small but enterprising 
little town in the southeastern part of the county. It is a consolidation 
of five districts, three of Marion county and two of Butler county. The 
school has now been in operation for three years. Two years ago a 
$9000 schoolhouse was erected and equipped with the most modern ap- 
paratus. A four-year high-school course has been added, and six teach- 
ers are employed, including a special teacher of music. 

The enrolment last year reached 206 pupils. Thirty-six of this num- 
ber were enrolled in the high school, and I am informed that the enrol- 
ment in the high school this year will reach at least fifty, and that a large 
majority of this number are boys and girls who live on the farm. This, 
is seems to me, demonstrates that the people of our rural communities 
will give their boys and girls a high-school education if the high school 
is brought to them. 

Five wagons are used to transport the pupils to and from school. 
These wagons are constructed especially for this purpose and are as 
comfortable and convenient as can be made. In severe winter weather 
they are tightly covered, the beds and sides are heavily padded, and 
arrangements are made for putting in an oil-stove. In short, everything 
is done that can be done to keep the children from suffering from the 
effects of cold weather. Each wagon is constructed to hold about twenty 
children. Most of the wagons are driven by high-school boys, and the 
routes are so planned that no wagon has to be driven more than six and 
one-half miles. The cost varies according to the distance driven. It is 
all the way from twenty dollars to thirty dollars, the last-named amount 
being the highest price paid for any wagon. The driver is made respon- 
sible for the conduct of the pupils in the wagon, and if there should be 
misconduct of any kind on the way to and from school, the driver reports 
it to the teacher of said children. As far as I have been able to ascer- 
tain, there has not as yet been the slightest objection raised to the mode 
of transportation by a single patron. Every one seems to be perfectly 
satisfied with it. I am told that so far but one wagon has been tardy, 
and that was because of the lameness of one of the horses. 

Statistics not only show that the average daily attendance is at least 
twenty per cent, better than it was under the old system, but also show 
that tardiness has been diminished at least forty per cent. 

The cost so far is a little more under this system than it was under the 
old system. Under the old system, the average levy for the year 1903 
was fourteen mills. Under this it has required a levy each year of 
twenty-four mills. However, to the best of my knowledge, there has 
been no objection made by any one to the extra cost. I have been over a 
greater part of the district, and I failed to find a person who wanted to 
go back to the old system. 

As to what consolidation has done for the districts concerned, may be 
summed up as follows : It has given them a good graded school with close 
supervision; it has given them a large, modern, commodious school build- 
ing, well equipped with good apparatus, well ventilated, and steam 
heated; it has given them a good high-school course at home, and without 
additional cost; it has given them the advantage of a special teacher of 
music. A manual-training room has been provided for; also a gym- 



Consolidation of Eural Schools. 19 

nasium. It has increased the average daily attendance twenty per cent.; 
it has diminished tardiness forty per cent.; it has given them more effi- 
cient teachers and a longer term of school; it is an advantage to the 
health of the children. And I am told on good authority that the price of 
land has materially increased since the organization of the school. 

The consolidated district has a valuation of $219,651. 

The success of this school is working a revolution for consolidation in 
other communities of the county. School boards from other districts have 
visited the Burns school, and those of them who were against consolida- 
tion before were converted to it. We expact to organize, before the year 
is over, at least three consolidated schools. 

Supt. W. E. Hagy, Ellsworth county, on the topic, "What the 
High Schools of our Consolidated Schools have Accomplished 
in Ellsworth County," reports : 

We have in Ellsworth county a consolidated school that has many ele- 
ments of strength, especially from a financial point of view. 

The district includes an area of 25% sections of land, including a 
small village, and has an assessed valuation of $63,000. We have never 
levied more than fifteen mills for the maintenance of the school. The 
attendance at this school runs from 100 to 120. It is certainly much 
better than under the old system. 

Another great advantage is that of better supervision; and last, but 
not least, is the better school spirit that prevails in the district, and in 
this respect it is very different from the single-district system. 

In this district there are always from ten to fifteen who finish the com- 
mon-school course, and this is quite a per cent, in excess of the number 
that will finish under the single-district system. The reason for this is 
probably the inducement that offers to enter the high school in the same 
building. In the high school there are from twenty to twenty-five pupils. 
Every year we have from two to four graduates. This school maintains 
a three-years course. It provides for three years of German, this being 
in a German community; has three years of English, with algebra, 
geometry, and a number of the sciences. 

A large number of those who have graduated from this high school 
have entered some higher school of learning. This is a matter of great 
pride to the community. I am certain that if the single-district plan had 
prevailed but few of those would have taken courses in higher institu- 
tions of learning. The people of this district pride themselves very much 
upon their schools. 

The following report of visits made to the consolidated 
schools of Milton, Sumner county, and Burns, Marion county, 
by C. C. Starr, assistant state superintendent of public instruc- 
tion, is interesting: 

MILTON, SUMNER COUNTY. 

On January 16, 1908, I visited the Sumner county consolidated school. 
The Sumner consolidated district was formed by the consolidation of five 
separate school districts in 1904, and the central school is located in a 
small village containing, at the time of consolidation, probably 50 in- 
habitants, and containing to-day about 140 inhabitants. The thermom- 
eter registered about twelve degrees above zero the day I visited the 
school. In this district the parents provide their own transportation. 
I found at the schoolhouse twelve one-horse single-seated buggies, two 
saddle-horses, and a bicycle. Although the day was cold, the attendance 
was up to the average. 

For the horses a well-arranged shed 24 x 48 feet, containing twenty- 
four stalls, has been constructed on the school-grounds. 

The larger boys living within a radius of a mile or two walk to 
school. The parents living beyond two miles from the schoolhouse are 
paid fifteen cents per family per day for the transportation of pupils. 



20 



Consolidation of Eural Schools. 




Consolidation of Rural Schools. 21 

The original plan was to transport the pupils in large wagons at the 
expense of the district, but that plan has not yet been tried, and thus far 
there seems to be a general satisfaction with the present mode of trans- 
portation. 

The consolidation began by two schoolhouses being moved to the site 
of the central schoolhouse at Milton, with a view to moving them back if 
consolidation should not prove satisfactory. The remaining old houses 
and school sites were sold for something between $600 and $800. 

An extensive inquiry revealed the fact that there is not a person in 
the consolidated district who would be willing to return to the old way. 
The general opinion prevails that the consolidated school is far superior 
to the district schools maintained before consolidation. It would seem 
that a more general satisfaction with the present system could hardly 
exist than that found in the district. There is but little tardiness, and 
those who drive are as prompt in attendance as those who live near the 
schoolhouse, and the school spirit is fine. 

The first year after consolidation two teachers were required instead 
of five for the separate schools the year before. For the next two years 
three teachers were employed. A high-school course of two years is being 
maintained, and a special high-school teacher employed, making four 
teachers in all in the school this year. In 1905 or 1906 a fine gray brick 
four-room schoolhouse was erected, at a cost of something over $6000 for 
the building alone. The two rooms on the second floor are separated by 
a movable partition that can easily be raised to turn the rooms into a 
commodious assembly hall. A lecture course is maintained, and the 
assembly hall is used for the general assembly purposes of the town and 
community. The building is heated by a furnace. 

The school has a well-selected library of over 200 volumes. The 
school is also supplied with dictionaries, encyclopedias and a good supply 
of material for the primary department. Sixty-five volumes were added 
this year. 

The area of the school-grounds is between three and four acres. The 
chief- game played by the boys is baseball, and the girls have been play- 
ing basket-ball preceding the present school year. The teachers are ex- 
perienced, and most of them have had normal or college training. The 
length of term is eight months. 

I found the enrolment January 16, 1908, to be, in the first and second 
grades, 26; third, fourth and fifths grades, 28; sixth, seventh and eighth 
grades, 43; high school, 13; making a total of 110 thus far enrolled. 
The number of high-school pupils from the town of Milton is 3, and the 
number of high-school students enrolled from the country is 10, indi- 
cating that the proportion of high-school students from the country is 
larger than the proportion from the town. 

The advantages mentioned are: A much better school; teachers have 
fewer classes and have time to do the teaching much better; the pupils 
have high-school advantages at home and know that they have a much 
better school. 

BURNS CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL, MARION COUNTY. 

The Burns school was consolidated in 1904. The district was originally 
formed out of five separate school districts. In 1906 an additional dis- 
trict made application for admission to the consolidated district and it 
was admitted, so that now the consolidated district consists of what were 
originally six separate school districts, and the area comprised is forty- 
three square miles, or considerably more than a congressional township. 
While the last district that joined the consolidated district is farther from 
the central school than is ordinarily advised for such districts, that dis- 
trict estimated that the advantages of the consolidated school would be 
superior to the disadvantages of the long distance to school. Experience 
has demonstrated the truth of this. 

Another district, lying outside, is sending seven pupils and paying their 
tuition. 

Before consolidation the Burns district employed two teachers and did 



22 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 




Consolidation of Rural Schools. 23 

not have a high school. The year following four teachers were required, 
lhe next year they had five teachers, and now six teachers are employed, 
lhe school occupies a modern six-room school building. A four-year 
high-school course is maintained which admits to the University of Kan- 
1907 ° hlgh " sch ° o1 teacher s are employed, one of whom was added in 

While the population of Burns is about the same as the population of 
the remainder of the consolidated districts, a majority of the pupils at- 
tending the high school are from the country. The pupils in the upper 
grades (who recall their experience as pupils in the smaller rural schools) 
unanimously preferred the consolidated school. The reasons the pupils 
gave for the preference are as follows: Their school now has better 
teachers, there are more pupils to associate with, the larger classes are 
more interesting, they make more progress, understand their lessons 
better, and teachers have time to give the proper amount of attention to 
each subject. It is more agreeable to ride the long distance to school 
than to walk to the country schools. 

Upon inquiry from the pupils who attend from the country as to 
what their chances would have been of attending high school if the con- 
solidated school had not been formed, a very large majority stated that 
the chances are that they would not have had an opportunity to secure 
a high-school education. A few stated that they thought they would 
have been able to attend a high school as their parents told them that 
they had intended to try to send them away to a high school. 

At the close of school I selected the wagon that goes to the most re- 
mote portion of the district, with a view to sharing the experience of the 
pupils while being transported. The distance to the end of the trip was 
ten and one-half miles — a distance much greater than is ordinarily 
recommended for transportation. The time required to make the trip 
was one hour and thirty minutes. The pupils stated that they liked to 
ride and did not get tired. Some said that they get a little cold some- 
times — a suggestion that the wagons should be heated in the coldest 
weather. Neither drivers nor pupils expressed any dissatisfaction with 
the mode of transportation, and the people from the country with whom 
I conversed expressed themselves as being entirely satisfied with their 
system of transportation. 

After extensive inquiry, no person could be found in the district who 
would be willing to go back to the old system of separate small schools. 
There is a general belief that the schools are far better than under the 
old plan, and that the community, through consolidation, has taken a long 
step forward educationally. 

Mr. M. C. Martin, principal of the school, reported that the positions 
of the teachers are more desirable than those in the rural schools, that 
the district can always secure the best teachers from the rural schools of 
the surrounding country, and that they would teach for lower wages in 
the consolidated school. 

Pupils in upper grades who recall the old way always vote unani- 
mously in favor of the consolidated school. It is more to the interest of 
the country than to the town to consolidate, where consolidation is with a 
town school. Consolidation has practically eliminated tardiness. The 
outdoor exercises are basket-ball, baseball and track work. 

J. S. Crawford, who has been treasurer of the consolidated school dis- 
trict since its organization, and who before consolidation was a teacher 
in the Burns school, gave the following information: 

"Most of the drivers of the wagons are trustworthy young men at- 
tending the high school. On the whole they prove to be the most satis- 
factory drivers. One wagon is driven very satisfactorily by a woman. 
The wagons are owned by the district and can be entirely closed. The 
drivers contract to keep the wagons in repair. The cost of the wagons 
was $130 each. There are plenty of applications by persons desiring to 
secure an appointment as driver. During the day the teams are kept in 
the sheds that have been erected on the school-grounds. 

"In but a few cases has it been necessary to use three horses on ac- 



24 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 







• 

j 










..J 












i 


'1 
l§_ 








I ! 


i 

i 
i 


\t 


l 
j 












i 

i 
i_ 


i 

V 


i 


r 
i 


Ul 








• N£3 


E \[ 




- — ■<.— — 


1 N0.2.E 
' « 


"1 








1 








1 

1° 

• I * 








1 

% 














1 m= ABAt, 


DONEP SCH 
)4L SCHOOL 


OOI — — •■£ 


IRBCTIONOf 
STARTJNO O 


■ ROUTES 

f routes 



THE BURNS CONSOLIDATED DISTRICT. 

count of muddy roads, and it has never been necessary to use a larger 
number. 

"In practice the pupils see the wagons coming and are ready to enter 
as soon as the wagons arrive. No difficulty has been experienced on ac- 
count of waiting for pupils who are not ready. There is no demand for 
a mode of transportation other than the one now in use. 

"Fewer, on account of sickness, are absent from the country than 
from the town. In case of sickness the pupil is taken to the doctor, and, 
if advisable, the pupil is driven home in a closed carriage at the expense 
of the district. 

"All the patrons of the district are satisfied with the consolidated 
school. The schools are now 100 per cent, better than they were before 
consolidation. 

"The increase in the value of real estate throughout the consolidated 
district on account of the consolidated schools is at least five dollars per 
acre. The first question asked by people wanting to buy land in the 
neighborhood is whether the land is inside consolidated districts. I have 
known of a number of men having refused to purchase land because it is 
located outside of the consolidated district." 

The following letter from Mr. W. E. Peyton, editor of the 
Burns Citizen, and a resident of the consolidated district, con- 
tains most interesting views as to the value in dollars and 
cents to a community of a consolidated school : 

Burns, Kan., March 30, 1908. 
Supt. E. T. Fairchild, Topeka, Kan. : 

My Dear Sir — Having been requested by you to briefly state the rela- 
tion of a consolidated school to land values, will say that we have in 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 25 

Burns, a city of 450 people, an ideal, in-every-way satisfactory consoli- 
dated school that no one would part with for any other plan. It does 
give satisfaction in every respect. 

Its relation to land values is hard to get at, through the fact that 
many other things are brought to bear upon real estate values, but the 
proposition is this: If a good school is of any value to adjoining land, 
then it does affect land values, and if the method of conducting the 
school is improved upon, then it increases the value of land. Another 
fact pertinent to this question is that all our real estate agents push the 
consolidated school in advertising and in conversation with buyers as a 
primary reason for purchasing, either for a home or an investment. It 
has been my experience in the real estate business that a man will pay 
more for land that has the very best school facilities. It is my opinion 
that our consolidated school in Burns has added an average value of not 
less than five dollars per acre on every acre in the district, and I think 
that all the patrons of this school and the business men of the city will 
bear me out in this statement, and will consider it a very conservative 
estimate. 

Having sold land, and knowing conditions both before and after the 
consolidation plan went into operation, I am safe in saying that if de- 
preciation ever does set in on land that it will be demonstrated beyond 
dispute that our land will sell for five dollars an acre more, all other con- 
ditions being equal, than any city without school facilities of this high 
class. 

A few of its features, as we know them, are that a child can get a 
high-school education, be ready to enter the State University, and yet 
remain at home under parental supervision while doing this; a better 
corps of teachers can be maintained at a smaller expense than under 
the old plan, and each pupil receive more personal attention from the 
teacher in a graded school than is possible to give them in a country 
school; the classes are larger in all departments, stimulating competitive 
work, a strong factor in the development of a child. Light, heat and 
ventilation are supplied in a healthy manner. It wholly eliminates tardi- 
ness and preserves the health of the pupil in the country district whose 
constitution will not stand walking through mud and snow. 

In county contests, the country district pupils, that otherwise would 
be entirely ignored, are enabled to take a prominent and dignified part. 
If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, we Burns people, taxpayers 
and all, have proved the merits of the consolidated plan to our entire 
satisfaction. 

Any one desiring any further information concerning our school and 
its work will have their questions promptly answered by addressing, 

W. E. Payton, Burns, Kan. 

Supt. E. S. McCormick, of Dickinson county, reports that 
the transportation of pupils in the Pearl consolidated district 
and union consolidated district No. 2 has given satisfaction. 

D. L. Katterjohn, principal of the consolidated school at 
Lorraine, Ellsworth county, states that two wagons are used 
for transportation, at thirty dollars per month each, and in 
addition to that each family transporting their own children, 
and living not more than two miles from the school, is paid 
seven and one-half cents per day for such transportation. 
Other families, living more than two miles and furnishing their 
own conveyance, are paid fifteen cents per day. He also states 
that the system of transportation in wagons is satisfactory. 
Some people whose children are large enough would rather 
have them go to school in their own conveyance, and as the 
district finds it cheaper, it yields to their preference. 



26 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 




Consolidation of Rural Schools. 27 

Miss Cordia r»]aine, principal of the consolidated school at 
Haven, Reno county, states that the system of transporting 
pupils in wagons at that point is satisfactory. County Super- 
intendent Hamilton says that the people in this district are all 
pleased, and it is said no one would return to the old way. 



ARGUMENTS FOR CONSOLIDATION 

BASED UPON REPORTS AS TO ITS OPERATION IN OTHER STATES. 

The report of Supt. H. S. Gilhams for 1903-04 gives the fol- 
lowing statement of facts as to consolidation in La Grange 
county, Indiana : 

"1. The drivers carry watches and consult them while on the route. 

"2. Each driver keeps the time of the consolidated school, generally 
standard. 

"3. The rate of speed while on the route averages five miles per hour 
for the year. 

"4. The time of arrival varies from ten to fifteen minutes prior to 
the opening of the schools. 

"5. The more remote pupils ride about five miles, and sixty per cent, 
ride three miles or less. 

"6. Children are kept comfortable by stoves, patent heaters, blankets 
and soapstones. , 

"7. The greatest advantage to the service is township ownership of 
hacks and the improvement of roads. 

"8. The drivers exercise due responsibility in promptly and safely 
conveying the children to school and returning them to their homes ; they 
also, by contract, prohibit questionable language, undue familiarity and 
boisterous conduct in or about the hacks. 

"9. Eighty-five per cent, of the patrons have reported the consoli- 
dated school as their preference in comparison with the 'old way.' " 

The dean of the Department of Agriculture of the University 
of Illinois caused a special investigation to be made of the con- 
solidated schools in Indiana and Ohio, and below are some ex- 
tracts from the report : 

"Over sixty per cent, of the districts report the cost as less and the re- 
sults as better after consolidation. About fifteen per cent, report the 
cost as being the same and ten per cent, that the system costs more, but 
the results are better. ..." , 

"There are four things that are going to benefit this country: Ihese 
are the telegraph, the daily mail, the electric car and the centralized 
schools in the county, and when you have gotten these you have all the 
advantages of the city in the country, and all the advantages of the 
country besides. I do not think I can advocate too strongly the cen- 
tralized schools. ..." 

"The advantages of centralization are many. Among them, has been 
found that the attendance has been more regular; very seldom are the 
scholars absent. Much more interest is being taken and greater progress 
made. They have better literary privileges, better teachers, more com- 
petition in their work, and, in the end, are far more accomplished than 
would have been possible had they attended the district school. I might 
add further that it has been proven that the children have been warmer 
and more comfortable." . 

" If a child is taken sick at the school he is sent home at 

public' expense. This has occurred, I was told, four times in the past 
three years. As one of the parents said, 'It is a great comfort to know 
that if occasion demands it my child will be brought home.' ' 



28 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

"As to the character of the work done in this well-graded six-room 
high school as compared with that of the scattering schools, there is no 
room for argument, there is absolutely no comparison possible." 

"Of the fifty-six persons interviewed in Gustava and Green townships, 
forty-five were in favor of the system, four were indifferent, and seven 
against, and of the seven who were against the system six were without 
children in attendance at school. The advantages of an up-to-date and 
thoroughly conducted high school were in this rural school shared alike 
by all the children of the township. Six months under the central sys- 
tem is as good as nine months under the old district plan. . . ." 

"The poor man who has heretofore only been able to send his children 
to the district school now has the pleasure of seeing them securing the 
best education that could be provided by the county." 

"The plan of centralization offers equal advantages to all the children 
of the township. It permits a better grading of schools and classification 
of pupils. It affords an opportunity for thorough work by adding more 
weeks of schooling and the addition of higher grades of study. Fewer 
but better and more capable teachers will be employed and retained; and, 
besides, it brings the stimulating influence of larger classes, with the 
spirit of emulation incident thereto. Small schools cannot have the 
vitalizing force that comes from larger numbers. Children who are 
transported in comfortable wagons are not exposed to the rigors of in- 
clement weather. Tardiness and absence are almost unknown. The 
parents become more deeply interested in the schools. It results in better 
school buildings, better sanitary conditions, better equipment, and all of 
this at a less aggregate expense than under the small district plan." 

A. B. Graham sent inquiries to parents in townships in Ohio 
having consolidated schools, and secured the information be- 
low: 

"How does the driver announce his coming?" "By blowing a horn"; 
"Blows a whistle"; "Halloos"; "Doesn't announce his coming; children 
learn about his regular times of coming." 

"Does your child stand and wait for the wagon?" Every reply so 
far is "No." 

"Is it necessary to clothe your child as heavily for the winter trips 
as under the old plan?" Seventy-five per cent, answer "No," fifteen per 
cent. "No difference," ten per cent. "Yes." 

"Does your child attend school more regularly than under the old 
plan?" Eighty per cent, answer "Yes," twenty per cent. "See no differ- 
ence." 

"Does your child show an increase in its interest above what it was 
under the old plan?" Ninety per cent, answer "Yes," ten per cent. "No." 

"Do your teachers show an increase in interest above what it was 
under the old plan?" Ninety per cent, answer "Yes," five per cent, 
answer "No," and five per cent. "Notice no difference." 

"If it takes more time .under the new plan than under the old plan, 
is it compensated for by better work?" Eighty-five per cent, answer 
"Yes," fifteen per cent, answer "Can't say" and "No." 

"What effect have centralized or consolidated schools on the social and 
educational interests of the township?" Most who answered said that 
there has been great improvement. 

"In the main, do you feel favorable toward centralized or consoli- 
dated schools to-day?" Seventy-five per cent, of those answering that 
they at first objected answered this question by saying "Yes." Some on 
the end of the longest route answered "No." 

The president of the state board of education of Massa- 
chusetts reports that "in Massachusetts, at least, the plan of 
consolidation of rural schools is no longer an experiment, but 
is recognized in most of the towns of the commonwealth as a 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 29 

means of raising the standard of education in rural commu- 
nities. 

In Connecticut, consolidation, as reported by the state super- 
intendent, has been most advantageous to the state. 

In Ohio the state commissioner of education is loud in his 
commendation of the plan. 

In New Jersey the advantages enumerated in favor of con- 
solidation are: (1) Economy; (2) better teachers and equip- 
ment; (3) better supervision ; (4) regularity of attendance of 
pupils; (5) better educational spirit. 

Wm. T. Harris, ex-United States Commissioner of Educa- 
tion, in his report on the subject of consolidation, says: 

"Upon the success of this movement rests the chief hope for the im- 
provement of the rural school. It is fortunate that a device which 
changes the ungraded school into a graded school involves a saving of 
expense. The improvement is well worth the trial, even were it to double 
the cost of the rural school; but, as will be seen by statistics, it is se- 
cured with an actual saving of expenditure. Better teachers, more sani- 
tary buildings, less personal expenses on the part of the pupils, better 
classification, and many lesser advantages are commending this reform 
over the country." 

Hon. Jno. F. Riggs, state superintendent of public instruc- 
tion of Iowa, says, "The high school is as much the birthright 
of the country child as it is of the city child." 

Hon. J. L. McBrien, state superintendent of public instruc- 
tion in Nebraska, says, "The time is not far distant when the 
people of rural communities will demand for their children the 
same or equal educational privileges as are granted to chil- 
dren living in towns and cities. The children in the country 
soon become familiar with modern privileges and cannot fail 
to note the failure of the little rural school of their district to 
provide the modern facilities as found in the town and city 
schools." 

The consolidated school affords these facilities. 

E. Davenport, dean of the College of Agriculture of the Uni- 
versity of Illinois, asserts, after an exhaustive investigation, 
that "No case is on record in which the change has been made 
back again from consolidation to the small school." 

The same authority states: "The most searching inquiry 
has failed to discover any disadvantage worthy of mention, 
except the possibility of children being taken ill at school. In- 
asmuch as the rules generally provide that such a child shall 
be immediately taken home in a comfortable conveyance, this 
seeming disadvantage is after all a substantial advantage over 
walking even a shorter distance. Indeed, the amount of travel 
under consolidation is far less than might be supposed, as the 
routes are seldom over four miles long." He then adds : 

"The greatest difficulty in consolidating these scattered and weakly 
schools lies in the fact that it is a 'new thing.' We grow accustomed or 
'hardened' to the disadvantages of a system long in use and come to look 
upon them as inherent in the case and altogether inevitable, but we have 



30 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

little patience with the difficulties of a new system, many of which are 
imaginary and others will disappear with experience. And so it is that 
we bear the ills to which we have grown accustomed until they become 
intolerable, believing always that it is conservatism and not unthinking 
apathy that controls us. 

"It throws light on a situation of this sort to reverse conditions. Sup- 
pose that consolidation had been the plan up to date, and that good 
graded schools doing high-school work were established in the country 
everywhere to which children were transported regularly and landed 
warm and dry every day, requiring six to eight wagons for each school. 

"Suppose then the proposition should come up to dissolve these 
schools; to build eight houses in the township instead of one or two; to 
hire eight teachers instead of three or four; that each teacher should 
'try to teach everything'; that the children, even little girls, should walk 
through mud and slush and in zero weather even as far as two miles or 
go without education; that under the new system all high-school work 
would of necessity be abandoned. What then would be thought of the 
present system if it came up as a new proposition for the consideration 
of sensible men? 

"The arguments for such a change could not be many. It might 
sound well to advocate the putting of these horses and drivers to useful 
work, letting the children walk; but to build eight houses instead of one, 
and to hire eight teachers instead of three or four, all that a half dozen 
drivers and teams may earn something in other ways, would not seem 
economy. The schools would certainly suffer, as would the health of the 
little children. Let him who has a lively imagination tell us what the 
mothers would say whose children had always been transported warm and 
dry, when it should be seriously proposed that hereafter the little ones 
should wade while horses and mules spoiling for exercise stand in the 
barns and kick the boards off for sheer amusement or lack of exercise. 

"It seems silly to draw this comparison, and yet it is sometimes neces- 
sary to look through the other end of the telescope in order to see things 
in their true proportions. The stubborn fact is that the old-time dis- 
trict school was fitted to a condition of things that has long since passed 
away. It is an antiquated institution and its days of usefulness in most 
country districts are practically over. It belongs with the scythe and the 
hand-rake and is of the days when corn was planted by hand. 7/ the 
consolidated system were the custom would we think of changing to the 
present one? In seeking an answer to this question, let it be remembered 
that no locality that has tried it has ever changed back to the old way." 

Kansas, from the view-point of its small schools and as to 
transportation, is better adapted to consolidation than are 
many other states. Kansas also is naturally as ready as any 
state in the Union to adopt the best, and acquaintance with the 
work of consolidation should result in a more rapid change to 
that system than has been experienced heretofore. 

It is not held that all one-teacher rural schools may be 
profitably combined with others. The larger schools are some- 
times so located as to make it unwise to attempt any such plan. 
Again, occasionally road conditions are such as to render an 
attempt of this kind not feasible. That there are, however, 
hundreds of schools that could with profit be united with others 
there can be no doubt. It does not follow that by consolidation 
is necessarily meant the transportation of all pupils. 

The difficulties in the way of consolidation are bad roads 
and a dislike to see the schoolhouse placed at any location that 
is farther from the farm than the old site. 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 31 

answers to objections. 

Quoting from the Illinois report, the conclusions based upon 
a careful examination of the whole question of consolidation 
are as follows : 

1. That many country school districts are so small and 
weak that no school is conducted. 

2. That many others consist of but three or four pupils, and 
the expense for elementary schooling frequently rises to more 
than $100 per pupil, which is higher than the tuition for col- 
legiate instruction. 

3. That at least one-third of the country schools are too 
small to be even fairly successful. 

4. That when the school is of fair size, consisting of many 
classes of few each, with but one teacher to do the work, the 
time is frittered away in a large number of short recitations, 
often but five minutes each. 

5. That fully one-third of all the teachers have had less 
than one year's experience and many never even saw a really 
good school. 

6. That the best teachers are taken for the graded schools, 
and that of those available for country schools, from fifty to 
seventy-five per cent, are "young girls" who have had no more 
training than is given in the school they are to attempt to 
teach. 

7. That when schools are established within walking dis- 
tance of each other the above-mentioned conditions are certain 
to follow, and that the only way ever tried or even proposed 
by which these schools can be made effective is to combine 
them into smaller numbers with fewer and better teachers, 
whose work can then be better divided and better supervised. 

8. That as conditions exist to-day little children walk long 
distances and suffer much discomfort and ill health by reason 
of exposure to storms and from sitting all day with wet feet 
and damp clothing after wading through snow-drifts, slush 
and mud on the way to school. This is especially true of young 
girls. 

9. That the only humane way of putting children of all 
ages and conditions into school through all kinds of weather 
is to transport them in wagons that are covered and, when 
necessary, warmed. 

10. That consolidation and transportation tend greatly to 
lessen expense, so that the same grade of schools can be had 
much cheaper, or a far better grade at the same expense, as 
patrons may desire ; or, if they please, a full equivalent of the 
best city schools may be established and conducted at slightly 
greater cost than heretofore, and at a much lower rate than in 
the city. 

11. That as things are to-day, without consolidation, coun- 
try people not only pay more for elementary instruction alone 
than city schools cost, including the high-school course, but, in 



32 Consolidation of Kural Schools. 

addition, farmers pay out vast sums for tuition and other ex- 
penses of their older children attending city schools for what 
is not offered at home. 

12. That though enormously expensive these schools are 
not effective, necessitating large additional outlay in sending 
the older children to the city schools at excessive cost and with 
much inconvenience, because done entirely as private enter- 
prise and at personal cost. 

13. That this condition often results in the whole family 
"moving to town to educate the children," to the damage of the 
school left behind, to the disadvantage of the business, at the , 
expense of breaking up the old home, and at the risk of giving 
the family false ideas of both city and country life. 

14. That the only proper way to educate a child up to and 
including the high school is to do it without disturbing his 
home or taking him out of it, and that the country child is en- 
titled to as good an education as the city child and at no more 
risk or inconvenience to him or his family. 

15. That it is not necessary to consolidate about a village 
school, but that wherever it is done the result should be a 
country school and not a city school. 

16. That consolidation is the only way of securing really 
good country schools, and it is the only means of introducing 
the study of agriculture generally into the public schools. 

17. No one can avoid the conclusion that the objections 
offered in advance of trial are mostly either fanciful or selfish ; 
that they are not realized in practice ; that consolidation is the 
only plan tried or proposed by which the country child can 
secure such an education as modern conditions demand, and 
such as is already afforded the city child. 

18. It lessens the expense and equalizes the cost; it pro- 
tects the health and morals of the child and makes the introduc- 
tion of agriculture and the other industries possible; it en- 
hances the value of farm property as a whole ; it brightens and 
broadens country life ; it preserves its virility unimpaired and 
rationalizes the movement toward population centers. Such 
difficulties as are found are trivial or transient, or both, and 
are such as would not stand in the way of any commercial en- 
terprise for a moment. 

19. Consolidation of country schools is the solution of the 
problem of agricultural education, and it is the only complete 
solution that has been offered. 

As to statement No. 1 above, on page 6 of this bulletin, it 
will be seen that 170 school districts in this state maintained 
no school the last year. 

That No. 2 applies in Kansas is shown on page 6. 

That No. 3 is true in this state is made clear by the table 
on page 7. 

Nos. 5 and 6 are commented upon with respect to Kansas on 
pages 3 and 4. 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 33 

Referring to No. 11, it would be most interesting could we 
know the amount of tuition paid in this state by parents for 
the attendance of their children at public schools. 

It has been estimated that in the state of Michigan nearly a 
million dollars per year has been paid for tuition alone. In 
the state of Kansas, hundreds of pupils are being sent to vil- 
lage or city schools every day. The fact is that the farmers are 
in reality supporting a double school system; one at home by 
process of taxation, the other in the nearest village in the form 
of tuition. It is estimated that in a single county in Illinois 
there has been paid out in this way for tuition in ten years 
$30,000. In Ellsworth, Ellsworth county, Kansas, the tuition 
fees have averaged for a number of years not less than $200 
per annum, or $2000 in ten years. The schools in a certain city 
of not more than 1500 people report to this office that for the 
past five years they have received not less than $650 annually 
in tuition, amounting in ten years to $6500. Undoubtedly 
the total for the state runs into many thousands of dollars; 
an amount of money that, if wisely expended, would have 
transported many times the number of these tuition pupils to 
centrally located schools in their own neighborhood. 

Thus we see that the farmer is not only helping to support 
his own school system, but he helps to support that of his city 
neighbors. 

OTHER ADVANTAGES. 

Classification and organization are the key-note to every 
successful modern enterprise. The reason that the graded 
schools are superior is that the work of instruction is put upon 
a thorough basis of classification. In the one-teacher school 
the teacher must take all of the pupils through all of the grades, 
with the result that there is no opportunity for specialization, 
and with the further result that the recitation is so short as in 
many instances to be almost valueless. The average number of 
recitations in a country school is from twenty-five to thirty. 
Twenty-five recitations per day, with time taken out for move- 
ment of classes and recess, means an average period of not 
more than eleven minutes. It means that many of the recita- 
tions indeed are but little more than five minutes each. In our 
city schools the recitation period in the grades is from twenty- 
five to thirty minutes, and in the high school from thirty-five to 
forty-five minutes. 

In the consolidated school with two or three teachers the 
recitation period is thus made relatively and definitely longer, 
but best of all there comes the larger attendance, with the in- 
centive and the inspiration that is always born of numbers. 

Again, there is afforded in such schools frequently an op- 
portunity for one or two years of high-school work, thus keep- 
ing the boy and girl still longer under parental care. In the 
four schools mentioned of this state each has at least a two- 



34 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

year high-school course. The Burns consolidated school has a 
four-year high-school course. 

To my mind the two strongest advantages growing out of 
the consolidated school are, first, that it attracts and holds a 
larger number of pupils, and an older class of pupils ; second, 
that there is opportunity not alone to teach text-book facts, 
but to take up such subjects as will acquaint the child with its 
environment — to lead it to know and understand something of 
the laws of nature, and of the principles that govern and con- 
trol agriculture. The best physical laboratory in America is 
the well-regulated American farm. Here the boys and girls 
study nature at first hand; here they observe the growth of 
life and plants and animals ; here they breathe pure air and be- 
come familiar with the beauties of the natural world; here 
they make character. To have added to all these natural ad- 
vantages the high school, without the limitations of town life, 
is an ideal situation. 

HOW TO CONSOLIDATE. 

The county superintendent, with the assistance of educators 
and others, should divide the county into proposed consoli- 
dated districts. A map of the county showing the boundaries 
of those proposed districts should be made. Separate maps of 
each consolidated district should be placed in the hands of each 
educator and others interested in the movement. On the map 
of each proposed consolidated district the residences from 
which pupils attend school should be marked, and proposed 
routes of transportation should be laid out. 

In platting counties into consolidated districts strong graded 
schools usually are acceptable centers for the location of the 
schools. Where such schools are not available as centers, the 
schools will be centrally located in territory that is entirely 
rural. Territory of the size of a township usually is preferable 
for a strong, economical and efficient consolidated school, 
though the consolidation of even two weak districts is always 
an advantage. 

An estimate of the expense of maintaining the school of a 
proposed consolidated district before consolidation should be 
made, and an estimate of maintaining it after consolidation 
should also be offered. The data for such an estimate can be 
found in the annual report of the county superintendent. 

The first outlay of the consolidated district should be for 
wagons, if the district decides to transport the children, and 
the moving of one or more of the best school buildings, and the 
erection of sheds for horses. That expense will be met in part, 
at least, by the sale of the abandoned school sites and some of 
the old school buildings. 

In most cases it may be preferable to bring together the 
best of the abandoned schoolhouses for the use of the new con- 
solidated district. Sheds for the horses may be constructed 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 35 

out of the schoolhouse that is least salable. The other school 
buildings and the abandoned sites may be sold, and out of the 
proceeds the wagons may be purchased, the expense of moving 
the schoolhouses paid, and a larger school site for the consoli- 
dated school building obtained. 
< In presenting the advantages of consolidation, the active as- 
sistance of those who are most interested in the education of 
their children can readily be secured. Literature available 
upon the'subject should reach as many as possible. The local 
papers will be willing to publish articles on the subject. Eve- 
ning meetings to study the proposition and to hear papers and 
addresses on the proposed measure by local talent are profit- 
able. Local educators are usually very willing to deliver eve- 
ning addresses on consolidation. Outside talent also is usually 
available for evening addresses. 

After a community is quite generally informed on the sub- 
ject active steps toward consolidation may be undertaken. The 
county superintendent should be consulted as to the require- 
ments of the law as to notices, the election, and other matters 
in connection with the formation of such a district. 

In short, study well the local conditions; become familiar 
with the arguments and advantages in favor of consolidation ; 
get the people interested in the proposition, and then hold one 
or more public meetings. If the sentiment is favorable, 
strike while the iron is hot, and proceed at once to an election^ 
If two out of three districts are clearly in favor of consolida- 
tion, and the third district is doubtful, it is well to take action 
upon the first two, and let the consideration of the third district 
coming in be voted upon at some future time. The great point 
is to consolidate, and thus not only improve the schools con- 
cerned, but offer an object-lesson to others in the neighbor- 
hood. 

'School Laws 1907, ch. VI.) 
Sec. 155. How Permanently to Disorganize and Consolidate. [6151.] 
Whenever the inhabitants of two or more adjacent school districts of the 
state of Kansas desire to unite for the purpose of forming a single or 
union school district and conducting therein a graded school, the clerks 
of the several districts shall, upon a written application of five voters of 
their respective districts, or by order of the several school-district boards, 
call a meeting of the voters of such districts at their respective school- 
houses, by posting up printed notices thereof in like manner as provided 
for calling school-district meetings, and if a majority of the voters in 
each of two or more adjacent districts shall vote to unite for the purpose 
herein stated, the clerks of such districts shall thereupon, in writing, 
notify the county superintendent of such action : Provided, That the vote 
in any district shall be made conditional upon its carrying in certain 
other named districts proposing to unite. Upon such notice, it shall be 
the duty of the county superintendent, and he is hereby authorized, at his 
discretion, to declare the districts so voting disorganized, and to designate 
a time and place for a meeting of the voters of said district so voting, 
for the purpose of electing a board of directors, consisting of a director, 
clerk, and treasurer, notice of which meeting shall be given by printed 
notices, posted in five public places in the districts uniting: Provided, 
That if any district so uniting to form a union school district has a 
legally bonded indebtedness at the time of its disorganization, such in- 



36 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

debtedness shall attach to and be a charge against the territory com- 
prised in such disorganized district at the time of its disorganization, 
and it shall be the duty of the county commissioners of the county or 
counties in which such territory is located to cause annually to be levied 
upon the property, real and personal, in such disorganized territory, a 
tax sufficient to meet the interest and provide a sinking-fund for the 
payment of such indebtedness: Provided further, That the assets and 
property of the district disorganized shall first be applied in payment of 
its floating indebtedness, if any, and then on its bonded indebtedness, 
and any residue thereafter to belong to the new union district: Provided 
further, That in forming union districts comprising territory lying in 
more than one county the county superintendents of said counties shall 
act together as by law provided for in joint school districts. (Laws 1901, 
ch. 305, sec. 1.) 

COST. 

Certainly no plan to change, in any manner, our present 
system of rural schools can make any headway unless the item 
of cost is thoroughly considered and understood. However, 
in any discussion of consolidation, and the expenses incident 
thereto, it should be remembered that our present system is 
probably the most extravagant and wasteful, from a money 
standpoint, that could be devised. It has already been shown 
that the average rural school costs the taxpayer per capita 
anywhere from one hundred to several hundred per cent, more 
than the most elaborate system of city schools. 

When we reflect further than one-half of the present number 
of teachers would be sufficient to teach all of the pupils of the 
state could they be conveniently grouped, we will readily see 
that the ultimate outcome of consolidation means a great sav- 
ing to the people. 

In almost every plan of consolidation, the cost after con- 
solidation for the same number of months at the same wages 
for teachers is considerably less. For the same cost, the term 
usually can be materially lengthened and the wages of teachers 
increased. 

That our small schools are costing the people an amount 
entirely out of proportion to the results obtained or the ad- 
vantages offered has already been shown in a striking manner 
by the tables found on pages 9 and 10. 

In support of the statement that the consolidated school is 
less expensive per capita, the attention of the reader is called 
to the following additional facts : 

1. Under consolidation there is no duplication of libraries, 
of apparatus, and of other equipment necessary. 

2. A considerable saving in fuel and heating equipment is 
effected. 

3. Less outlay is required for maintenance, repairs and 
janitor service. 

4. Less capital is invested in buildings. 

5. In practically every case the number of teachers needed 
is largely reduced, thus making a definite saving. 

6. Ordinarily enough can be saved through the various 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 



37 



means suggested to meet the extra cost of transportation. As 
a reward for this we have a more efficient school, better teach- 
ers, a longer term, the possibility of some high-school work, 
and the inspiration of numbers. 

The following estimate of certain school districts may serve 
as a valuable illustration : 

ESTIMATING THE COST OF CONSOLIDATION. 

Below is an illustration of an average financial exhibit of a 
proposition to consolidate in a county densely populated 
(Shawnee) : 

Original Data, from Records. 



No. of District. 


Av. 
daily 
attend- 
ance. 


Mo. 
school. 


Teachers' 
wages. 


Incidental 
expenses. 


Total 
expenses. 


16 


30 
17 
12 
14 
21 
13 

107 
18 


8 

7 
7 
7 
7 
7 


$55 00 
50 00 
45 00 
36 00 
50 00 
47 00 


$200 77 

125 49 

128 59 

67 23 

92 83 

86 15 


$637 77 
475 49 
443 59 
319 23 
439 83 
419 55 


17 


18 


19 


20 


21 




Totals 


43 

7»/6 


$283 00 
47 16 


$702 06 
117 01 


$2,735 06 
482 51 


Average 



Summary of Expenses Before Consolidation: 

Teachers' wages, fuel and repairs for 6 schools $2,735 06 

Interest at 5 per cent, on $6000 (estimated) invest- 
ment in 6 schoolhouses 300 00 

Depreciation (estimated) per year on 6 school build- 
ings 240 00 



5,275 06 



Exhibit of Expenses After Consolidation: 

3 teachers for 7% months, at $47.16 per month $1,013 94 

5 wagons for 7% months, at $30 per month 1,075 00 

Fuel, repairs, etc., for three schools 351 03 

Interest at 5 per cent, on $3000 invested in 3 school- 
rooms 150 00 

Depreciation per year on three schoolrooms 120 00 

Total 



Net 



saving 



$2,709 97 
$565 09 

By increasing the number of wagons to six, increasing the 
teachers' wages to $55 per month and increasing the length of 
term to eight months, the net saving is still $37.01. 

Minor items almost negligible are omitted in the mode of 
estimating illustrated above. 

The demand of the day is not for cheaper schools, however, 
but for better schools for the money invested. The question is 
not so much one of cost as it is one of returns for the money 
invested. The present rural-school system pays very dearly 
for what it offers in return. 



38 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

If the consolidated school is sometimes more expensive it is 
almost invariably due to an increase in the wages of teachers 
and length of term of school. A comparison of the expense of 
maintenance before and after consolidation verifies this state- 
ment. The cost of maintaining both the small school and the 
consolidated school vary alike with the length of term and the 
wages of teachers. The cost in both cases is regulated by the 
desire and financial ability of patrons to provide superior edu- 
cational advantages for their children. 

The cost per pupil per month, based on average daily at- 
tendance before and after consolidation, is shown by the fol- 
lowing statement: 

In the consolidated school at Portis, Osborne county, the 
cost per month per pupil, based on average daily attendance, 
was $3.62 just before consolidation and $2.53 just after con- 
solidation. In district No. 4, Rice county, five rural districts 
consolidated, and the cost per month per pupil, based on aver- 
age daily attendance, was $4.33 before consolidation and $3.18 
after consolidation. In Union No. 1, Rice county, the cost per 
month per pupil before consolidation was $2.29, after consoli- 
dation $2.20. In the consolidated schools at Milton, Sumner 
county, the cost per pupil per month was $3.98 before consoli- 
dation, $2.96 the first year after consolidation, and $2.24 the 
second year after consolidation. In the Burns district the cost 
before consolidation was $2.94, and $2.50 the next year after 
consolidation. 

COST IN OTHER STATES. 

From the report of the minister of public instruction, of Vic- 
toria, Australia, the following extract is taken : 

"Under the system of conveyance 241 schools have been closed. The 
saving in closed schools is £14,170 per annum. The attendance is so 
regular and the system so popular that applications are constantly made 
"foT its Gxtcwsion. 

"Once when a man wished to sell his farm he advertised 'A school 
near.' Now he advertises 'Children conveyed to school.' Farms sell 
more readily now." 

G. T. Fletcher, in his report on consolidation in Massachu- 
setts, states that in Massachusetts sixty per cent, report the 
cost less under consolidation but the result better; fifteen per 
cent, report the same, but better results. Eighty per cent, re- 
port the cost more but the result better. The testimony as to 
the effect of attendance is nearly unanimous that the atten- 
dance is improved by conveyance of pupils. 

The Report of the Department of Education of Massachu- 
setts (1904) states that the expense of consolidation has gen- 
erally been less than the cost of maintaining the schools at 
the time of closing them. 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 39 

The following financial statement gives the gain due to con- 
solidation in La Grange county, Indiana : 

Number of schools receiving conveyed pupils 14 

Number of schools abandoned 38 

Additional teachers required in the central schools '. 7 

Saving in number of teachers 31 

Saving in salaries of teachers \ . . . $10,651 60 

Saving in fuel and repairs 2^260 00 

Total saving $12,911 60 

Number of pupils conveyed 428 

Number of hacks required 29 

Total cost for transportation for the year ". 6,176 86 

Net saving, not counting additional cost of fuel and jani- 
tor service in consolidated schools $6,734 74 

A further reference to the tables showing relative cost of 
graded and ungraded schools makes clear the proposition that 
the per capita cost is materially less in larger schools than in 
the small ones. 

TRANSPORTATION OF PUPILS PRACTICAL. 

According to the report on consolidation by Prof. E. Daven- 
port, of the University of Illinois, "good country schools can- 
not be established within walking distance of each other. 
Transportation is inherent in any effective system, and it is 
inevitable. Consolidated country schools do not mean anni- 
hilated country schools with the children hauled away to the 
nearest city to be schooled on the wholesale plan. The thing 
that should come out of this is a real country school for country 
children, and whether it is located in a small village, at a 
crossing of the roads, or in some picturesque piece of wood- 
land, it must breathe the atmosphere of country life; it must 
instill a love for country things, and it must teach in terms of a 
life that the country child understands." 

Transportation is now in actual existence almost every- 
where. Almost every high school has an attendance of pupils 
driving many miles to and from school and paying tuition. 
The same thing may be said with regard to the best graded 
schools. In Iowa, in 1905-'06, 7082 pupils paid $48,827 in 
tuition below the high school, and in high schools in the same 
year 7343 pupils paid $95,784 in tuition. 

The transportation of pupils is an admitted success wherever 
consolidation has been tried. It has been tried both where the 
population is sparse and where it is dense; among the hills of 
Massachusetts and on the plains farther west; in the mud of 
Indiana and Ohio and on the fine roads of Kansas, and experi- 
ence indicates that it is adapted to all those varying conditions. 

RIVERS, HILLS, MUD AND SNOW-DRIFTS. 

In laying out consolidated districts they should be located 
so that rivers will not interfere with transportation. The re- 
markable growth of consolidation among hills and sparsely 



40 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

settled portions of Massachusetts, where it originated, indi- 
cates that it is even adapted to hilly and sparsely settled com- 
munities. The steady increase of the amount expended in that 
state for transportation, from $22,000 in 1888-'89 to $236,000 
in 1905-'06, indicates that the transportation of pupils is a 
success even under the most unfavorable conditions. 

Kansas, with its level plains, is far better adapted to con- 
solidation than Massachusetts, with its hills. But in the few 
hilly communities of Kansas the average boy does not need to 
be told to jump out and walk up the hills. By this simple solu- 
tion even the hilly portions of Kansas become fine territory for 
consolidation. It has become remarkably successful in states 
more muddy than the muddiest district in Kansas. The addi- 
tion of a third horse, or even another team in the worst 
weather, does away with all objection on account of muddy 
roads. The boys, as in the case of steep hills, will not need to 
be told to walk around "mud-holes," or the driver can find the 
same way around that the driver of the rural mail wagon finds. 
In muddy weather, "the free school wagon" will be found run- 
ning every day that any other wagon runs. The horses can 
be trusted to travel along the roads every day that little pupils 
are able by walking to attend school. Even snow-drifts offer 
no disadvantages, for when the horses cannot travel through 
the snow-drifts it is quite certain that little children would not 
be expected by their parents to make their way through them. 

The roads are muddy but a short time in the year in any por- 
tion of the state, and in the larger portion of Kansas the roads 
remain fine throughout the year; in fact, are almost ideal for 
the transportation of pupils. 

AVAILABILITY OF HORSES. 

In the wheat belt of Kansas, except in harvest time, there 
usually is a surplus of teams sufficient to transport the pupils. 
In the corn belt of the state April is about the only month 
during the school year, if there are eight months, when there 
are not enough surplus teams to transport all the pupils. The 
surplus teams so carefully housed from storms might better be 
earning their feed by transporting pupils and giving delicate 
young children the advantage of proper protection from mud 
and storm. When the wagons are driven by trustworthy 
young men attending school, the wages of thirty dollars per 
month for driving the wagons become almost clear profit for 
nearly the entire school year. 

DRIVERS OF WAGONS. 

The wagons are being driven successfully by women, by 
elderly people, and by older pupils. Teachers sometimes con- 
tract both to drive the wagon and to teach in the consolidated 
school. Sheds are usually constructed on the school-grounds so 
that the horses may remain there until the close of school. 
Drivers not connected with the school often secure employment 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 41 

in the vicinity of the school for themselves and teams during 
the hours when school is in session. 

When drivers return home in the morning an average of 
about four hours is required daily for transporting pupils. 
From the above considerations it is conclusive that the trans- 
portation of pupils can be accomplished rather cheaply, and 
with little interference with the industrial activities of the 
community. 

CONTROL IN WAGONS. 

The pupils are under the control of the driver, who is under 
contract to arrive at school on time, to maintain proper dis- 
cipline in the wagon, to refrain from the use of tobacco and 
profanity, and to report to the teacher improper conduct on 
the part of pupils. The driver may be given authority to re- 
quire pupils to walk as a punishment for offenses committed. 
That authority is given the drivers in the Burns district, yet 
no driver has ever found it necessary to resort to it as a pun- 
ishment. The association in the wagons is under much better 
regulation than exists on the average playground. 

RIDING VERSUS WALKING. 

Riding in a closed wagon is so much more comfortable that 
even in pleasant weather the pupils would rather ride from 
three to five miles than walk one mile. The free school wagon, 
like the street-car of the city, removes the objection of dis- 
tance and brings all into easier access to school. 

When the roads are good the teams can usually make nearly 
average driving speed. The comfort of riding is such that 
the consolidated school is much more easily reached than the 
abandoned schools. The general experience of pupils is that 
riding is not tiresome, and much to be preferred to walking. 
The playground will furnish sufficient exercise. 

Electric interurban railways have been used successfully for 
the transportation of pupils to consolidated schools, and they 
offer an almost ideal means for transportation. There is no 
reason why consolidation should not be effected rapidly along 
the electric lines of the state. 

SAFETY OF TRANSPORTATION. 

The transportation of pupils is proving to be entirely sat- 
isfactory, both as to the safety of pupils and as to the care 
exercised by drivers. For all other purposes there is no hes- 
itancy in using horses as a general means of conveyance. It 
would be inconsistent to make an exception of transportation 
of pupils to school. People generally do not hesitate to ride 
on trains, even if wrecks have not ceased to occur. The same 
persons, however, have no hesitancy in risking small children 
to walk to and from school at the risk of flying missiles, pug- 
nacious fists, and even falling from trees, not to speak of 



42 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

unguarled associations and exposure to storms. By com- 
parison a selected team driven by a bonded driver becomes 
after all about the safest means of transportation. 

TRANSPORTATION HUMANE. 

Experience is conclusive that transportation is more humane 
than walking, and that exposure to rain, snow, sleet, north 
winds, and sitting in the schoolroom with damp feet and damp 
clothing, cause much of the sickness among school children. 
It is reported by some that transportation reduces appreciably 
the doctor bills. 

PROVISION WHEN PUPILS ARE TAKEN SICK AT SCHOOL. 

When pupils become sick at.school it is customary for school 
boards to make special arrangements for medical attention 
where a physician is available, and for taking pupils home 
promptly when it is advisable. In practice, but few cases of 
sickness require special trips to take pupils home. 

SCHOOL BUILDINGS. 

Frequently the best school buildings are moved together in 
preference to erecting a new school building. The remaining 
school buildings and the abandoned school sites may be sold 
and the proceeds applied toward purchasing wagons and mov- 
ing the schoolhouses together. The material of the poorest 
schoolhouse might be used for the construction of sheds for 
the horses. It is preferable that several acres be provided for 
site of the consolidated school. In purely rural communities, 
especially where residences near the central school are not 
available, one of the school houses might be remodeled into a 
residence for the principal. Such an arrangement would go 
far toward securing a permanent teaching force. 

REMOVAL OF SCHOOLHOUSE. 

The removal of the little schoolhouse substitutes a building 
larger, more useful, more easily accessible and more worthy 
of the pride and the devotion of every friend of education. It 
enlarges the community and intensifies the community in- 
terests. It enhances the value of real estate in every part of 
the consolidated district. This statement is borne out by the 
experience of such school districts as those at Burns and Mil- 
ton. A much greater consideration is that it broadens and 
enriches the lives of those who live in the community. It is 
the universal experience that an improvement in the educa- 
tional advantages of a community enhances the value of real 
estate and makes that community a more desirable place in 
which to live. 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 43 

summary of the advantages of consolidation. 

It permits a better grading of the school and better classifi- 
cation of the pupils. Consolidation allows pupils to be placed 
in graded schools where they can work to the best advantage 
and where more time can be given to the recitation. 

The time of the teacher is not frittered away by having to 
teach a larger number of classes. 

By employing several teachers, each teacher can have ample 
time for each class, and some high-school work can also be 
added. 

It insures the enrolment of a larger percentage of the per- 
sons of school age. 

It insures a better attendance from those enrolled. 

It opens the door to more weeks of schooling, and to schools 
of a higher grade. 

It keeps the larger boys and girls in school a longer time, 
and especially those advancing beyond the discipline and in- 
struction of the smaller school. 

Greater results are accomplished in the same length of time. 

Better management is secured. 

The discipline in consolidated schools averages much better 
than that in schools of but one teacher. 

Better school officials can be secured by having a much 
larger district from which to select them. 

Petty jealousies interfere less with the best interests of the 
school. 

The larger number of classes already required makes the 
need of more than one teacher for any school apparent. 

The general demand for more subjects in the course of study 
emphasizes the fact that a larger institution than the one- 
teacher school is required. 

The course of study can be made more complete. 

It affords an opportunity for thorough work in special 
branches, such as drawing, music, and elementary agriculture. 

Special teachers could be employed to divide their time 
among such consolidated schools. 

By consolidation we are taking a long step forward in solv- 
ing the problem "How to keep the boys on the farm." Such 
a school may become the social and intellectual center of the 
community. 

By this plan the farm again, as of old, becomes the ideal 
place in which to bring up children, to give them the advan- 
tages of centers of population, and have them spend their eve- 
nings in the home. 

The classes are larger, and hence more interesting. 

It awakens healthy rivalry through the inspiration of num- 
bers. 

The large classes bring interest, enthusiasm and confidence. 

Large classes inspire the strong students to excel and the 
others to imitate their example. 



44 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

Closer relationship, more varied intercourse and friendly 
class rivalry tend to stimulate interest. The classes become 
stronger, pupils continue longer in school, and frequently se- 
cure higher education. 

The larger numbers make the games more interesting, make 
such games as baseball possible, and hence contribute to the at- 
tractiveness of school life. 

The social life of the pupil is widened and the circle of ac- 
quaintance extended. The larger association improves the 
manners of the pupils, strengthens their individuality, broad- 
ens their experience with others, and makes them better and 
more intelligent citizens. 

It quickens public interest in the schools. Pride in the kind 
and quality of work done is made manifest. 

It brings to the people of a larger area a certain community 
of feeling, a certain companionship and charity which would 
otherwise hardly be possible. Sectarian and political differ- 
ences are not so noticeable and the people become better ac- 
quainted. 

It is the only means of realizing free high schools for all 
and accessible to all. 

The extension of the course of study so as to give some high- 
school instruction follows consolidation. At age of from thir- 
teen to fifteen years, when pupils should be ready for high 
school, the natural place for them to live is in their own homes 
under parental care. Even a year or two of high-school edu- 
cation at home prepares the child much better to be among 
strangers while continuing his education. 

The larger boys and girls are kept in school, are given better 
instruction, and are offered many advanced subjects. 

A larger proportion of the pupils are enabled to complete 
their preparation for the high school. 

All the children have the same chances for higher educa- 
tional advantages, which, under the present plan, only a small 
percentage can have, and that at great expense, by leaving 
home and going to the city. 

A larger number have high schools to enter. Hence, a much 
larger number enter high school. 

The rich and the poor will have more nearly equal advan- 
tages in securing a high-school education. What is now the 
privilege of a few will become equally the opportunity of all. 

_ It gives an opportunity to the promising, ambitious boy or 
girl, regardless of wealth, and in return the state is endowed 
richly with a citizenship of superior quality and efficiency. 

Parents and children become more contented when good 
school advantages are brought to them in the country. 

Better teachers can be employed, hence better schools. 
_ Good teachers gravitate toward positions having systema- 
tized work. 

Teachers are retained longer, and hence become more effi- 
cient. 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 45 

Good teachers may be more easily retained than in the small 
ungraded school. 

The consolidated school secures a larger share of the ex- 
perienced teachers and those who have had normal training. 

The better salaries paid will enable a larger proportion of 
the teachers to secure high-school and normal training as a 
preparation. 

The plan insures systematic and close supervision by the 
principal, and makes the visitation of county superintendents 
more efficient by saving much time from travel and permitting 
visitations much more frequently. 

Close supervision will give the inexperienced teachers wise 
daily assistance and guidance, and greatly improve their effi- 
ciency. 

The buildings are more comfortable and convenient, and 
better adapted to school purposes. The same number of rooms 
can be constructed more cheaply when combined in one build- 
ing than when constructed separately. 

Pupils can have the advantages of better schoolrooms — bet- 
ter heated, better ventilated and better supplied with appa- 
ratus. 

Better equipment for primary work can be secured. In- 
stead of the charts, globes and other apparatus duplicated in 
the separate schools a much larger variety can be secured for 
the same outlay. 

The larger school means better libraries and hence good 
literature. 

It reduces irregular attendance. 

It eliminates truancy. 

It reduces tardiness to a minimum. 

It makes compliance with our compulsory-attendance law 
more feasible and justifiable. 

It is the general testimony that the health of the pupils is 
better because of transportation facilities. 

The pupils are protected from storms; quarreling and fight- 
ing on the way to and from school are prevented ; the oppor- 
tunity for intimidation and acts of violence by the strong to- 
wards the weak is removed. 

The morals of the pupils are guarded and controlled on the 
way to and from school. 

Pupils use the same conveyance to attend both the grades 
and the high schools. 

The consolidated school usually becomes the trading-point, 
and the parents, through pupils, have daily access to the trad- 
ing center, and can attend to matters which otherwise would 
require time and attention. 

The school wagons can be used for transportation to enter- 
tainments, lectures and concerts. 

It decreases the aggregate cost or gives greater efficiency 
at the same cost. 



46 Consolidation of Rural Schools. 

More is saved in incidental expenses, and the people un- 
doubtedly secure larger returns for the money invested. 

There is a saving in the very heavy expense of sending pupils 
away from home to high schools, or of moving to town to edu- 
cate the children. 

It gives value received for the amount expended. 

It enhances the value of real estate, but the greatest gain is 
in the enrichment of the lives of the young. 

The consolidated school has gone far beyond the experi- 
mental stage. Its advantages are as well confirmed as are the 
disadvantages of the one-teacher rural school. 

The central school has more dignity, more character, more 
force than the rural school, and evokes more pride, interest and 
support on the part of the people. At every point of compari- 
son the consolidated school is confidently claimed to be superior 
in all respects to the school of one teacher, and at all material 
points of comparison the entire system of consolidation has 
been demonstrated by experience to be superior to the system 
that is gradually being replaced by it. 

The objections to consolidation are almost invariably either 
fanciful or selfish. Trivial excuses are offered to outweigh the 
most precious inheritance that a child may receive. 

The large number of pupils from ungraded schools who are 
attending graded schools and paying tuition in them is a 
strong evidence of the superiority of the graded school. That 
there is no appreciable opposite movement of pupils from the 
graded to the ungraded schools is an additional evidence that 
the former is superior. The most satisfactory organization in 
the graded school is one in which only one grade is assigned 
to each teacher. But the school in which two or three grades 
are assigned to one teacher is still a vast improvement over 
the system requiring one instructor to attempt to teach all the 
eight grades. The common experience of teachers of rural 
schools is that they do not have time to carry out the standard 
methods of teaching ; they do not have sufficient time to teach 
the large number of classes that they ordinarily must form, for 
many of these have but from five to ten minutes each. For 
that reason all the work of the teacher must fall far short of 
what it would be in a properly graded school. 

Since there is not time for the work ordinarily demanded, 
subjects that should be taught, such as music, drawing and 
agriculture, are crowded out of the course, or if admitted are 
quite sure to receive but a small portion of the attention that 
properly belongs to them. 

It is the common experience that most of the causes of com- 
plaint against teachers do not exist after consolidation. The 
conclusion is that the complaints are largely chargeable 
against the system in which the teacher is placed, rather than 
against the teacher herself. Under close supervision, with a 
smaller number of classes — though the classes themselves be 



Consolidation of Rural Schools. 47 

larger — the work of the teacher would be far more successfully 
done. 

There are 508,000 boys and girls of school age in the state 
of Kansas. Of this number fully seventy per cent, receive 
their elementary training in the rural schools, or in villages 
having a population of 1000 or less. The great majority of 
our trained and experienced teachers are found in the graded 
schools only. Because of short terms, small schools, inex- 
perienced teachers, lack of sufficient supplies and apparatus, 
and of impossible demands made upon the teachers of the 
rural schools, the boys and girls of the country are by no 
means receiving the training to which they are entitled. 

From every consideration, both financial and intellectual, 
more careful attention should be given to our common schools. 
In addition to an attempt to solve this problem through the 
plan of consolidation, there should unquestionably be added 
state aid. Kansas appears to be the only state in the Union 
in which there is neither a state nor a county tax for school 
purposes. Shall we not, as citizens and parents, take up this 
question of paramount interest and insist upon it that ampler 
and freer opportunities be offered to the 350,000 boys and 
girls to whom the city schools and the high schools are not 
available ? 

I plead for the boy and the girl everywhere, that they shall 
have equal advantages ; that the people of this great state see 
to it that they shall have not alone opportunity for high-school 
and college training, but that they shall have a firm and sound 
foundation upon which to rest such education. However much 
we may desire higher education for all, the cold fact remains, 
and probably always will remain, that the vast majority of 
the youth of our land will never get a school training beyond 
the people's college — the public high school. 




48 Consolidation of Rural Scho( 



THE WORTH OF A BOY. 

What is a boy worth? What is an education worth? An Indiana jury- 
awarded $599.99 for the killing of a boy. A friend of mine, who is a 
superintendent in West Virginia, called that award an outrage. I asked 
"him why. He answered: "To say nothing of the value of the boy's per- 
sonality and all that a boy is to his father and mother and home, the 
commercial value of a boy's time at school is more than the award of 
"that Indiana jury." I asked him how he made the calculation. He said: 
"You find the value of a boy's time at school by subtracting the earnings 
of a life of uneducated labor from the earnings of a life of educated 
labor." Then he gave me a calculation that I have used this year before 
every institute, for I am anxious to get it into the daily papers, to have 
it carried to every schoolroom and put upon every blackboard, so that the 
pupils may carry it home and discuss it with their parents. 

He said: "If an uneducated man earns $1.50 a day for 300 days in a 
year, he does very well; and if he keeps it up for forty years he will earn 
$1.50x300x40, or $18,000. An educated man is not generally paid by 
the day, but by the month and by the year. If you will strike an average 
of the earnings of educated men, beginning with the President of the 
United States, who earns $50,000 a year, the presidents of the insurance 
companies and of large railroad companies, and run down the scale until 
you come to the lower walks in point of earnings among educated men, 
you will admit that $1000 is a low average for the earnings of educated 
labor. For forty years you have $40,000 as the earnings of an educated 
man. Subtract $18,000 from $40,000, and the difference, or $22,000, 
must represent the value of a boy's time spent at school getting an edu- 
cation." 

You will all admit that a man who works with his hands at unskilled 
labor puts forth as much muscular effort as a man who earns a livelihood 
by his wits and education. Now, if $22,000 represents the value of time 
a boy spends at school getting an education, what is the value of a day 
spent at school? 

The average school life of every boy and girl in Massachusetts is seven 
years of 200 days each; let us say that it takes four years more to get a 
good education. Reckoning eleven years of 200 days each, you will find 
that the 2200 days at school are equal to $22,000, and a simple division 
on the blackboard will bring it home to the comprehension of every boy 
that each day at school, properly spent, must be worth ten dollars. 

One director asks whether it is a violation of the compulsory law if a 
farmer keeps at home his eleven-year-old boy to plow, because it costs one 
dollar a day to get some man to do it. While he is putting one dollar 
into his own pocket, he is robbing the boy of ten dollars in the shape of 
future earning capacity. Is not that high-handed robbery by the father 
of his own child? — N. C. Schaeffer, in Pennsylvania Report. 



REFERENCES ON CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS. 



"Consolidation of Our Schools," by E. Davenport (pamphlet form), 1904, is pub- 
lished by the University of Illinois, Urbana, 111. 

"Centralized Schools in Ohio," by A. B. Graham (pamphlet form), 1907, published 
by the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 

"Conditions and Needs of Rural Schools," by John F. Riggs (pamphlet form), 
1905, published by the Department of Public Instruction, Des Moines, Iowa. 

"Consolidation of Districts, the Centralization of Rural Schools, and the Trans- 
portation of Pupils at Public Expense," by Wm. K. Fowler (pamphlet form), 1903, 
published by the Department of Public Instruction, Lincoln, Neb. 

"Rural Schools," by Frank L. Jones (pamphlet form), 1902, published by the 
Department of Education, Indianapolis. 

"Consolidation of Districts and Transportation of Pupils" (pamphlet form), 1901, 
by Richard C. Barrett, published by the Department of Education, Des Moines, Iowa. 

Annual Report of Winnebago, Illinois, by O. J. Kern (pamphlet form), 1907, 
pp. 84-96. 

Report of the Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools (pamphlet form), 1905, pub- 
lished by the University of Chicago, Chicago. 

Reports of the United States Commissioner of Education for the following years : 
1901, pp. 161-215; 1903, pp. 2405-2414; 1904, pp. 2277-2279; 1905, p. 193. 

Proceedings of the National Educational Association for the following years : 
1901, pp. 804-811; 1902, pp. 224-231 and 793-798; 1903, pp. 919-936; 1904, pp. 313- 
316; 1906, pp. 337, 338; 1907, pp. 277-279. 

Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1901, "Some Problems of the Rural Com- 
mon School," by A. C. True, pp. 133-154. 

"Education" (Boston). 

"Consolidation of Rural Schools," by O. J. Kern, pp. 14-26, September, 1905. 

"Consolidation of Country Schools," pp. 246, 247, December, 1907. 

"Elementary School" (Chicago), September, 1906. 

MacDonald Consolidated Schools, at Guelph, Ontario, pp. 16-19. 

"Among Country Schools" (Ginn & Company), Chicago, 1906, by O. J. Kern, 
pp. 240-282. 

Forum, 1902, "Consolidation of Country Schools and the Conveyance of Children," 
by E. C. Blake, pp. 103-108. 

Review of Reviews, December, 1902, "Consolidation of Schools ,and Conveyance 
of Children," by Frank Nelson, pp. 702-706, and W. B. Shaw, pp. 706-710. 

Educational Review, October, 1900, "Transportation of Rural School Children at 
Public Expense," by A. A. Upham, pp. 241-251. 

The Interstate Schoolman, November and December, "Consolidation of Rural 
Schools." 

The Western Journal of Education (San Francisco), June, 1903, a special num- 
ber on the Consolidation of Rural Schools and the Transportation of Pupils. 

Reports of state superintendents of public instruction for the following years : 

Indiana, 1904, pp. 271-319; 1906, pp. 617-693. 

Ohio, 1905, pp. 14-16 and 314-317. 

Nebraska, 1904, pp. 225-282; 1906, pp. 341-352. 

Iowa, 1905, pp. 225-241; 1906, pp. 142, 143. 

Illinois, 1906, pp. 24-27 and 136-148. 

Massachusetts, 1904, pp. 209-211; 1905, pp. 83-90; 1906, pp. 274-277 and XC (90). 

Connecticut, 1902, pp. 10-12 and 332-336; 1905, pp. 204-207. 

Vermont, 1906, pp. 28-41; 1902, pp. 38-49. 

Kansas, 1906, pp. 17, 18 and 194, 195. 

A discussion of the subject can be found in recent volumes of all educational 
journals. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 490 568 



fl 



